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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2002, p. 4369-4373, Vol. 184, No. 16
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.16.4369-4373.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
ZntB Is a Novel Zn2+ Transporter in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium
Ashley J. Worlock and Ronald L. Smith*
Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019
Received 23 April 2002/
Accepted 31 May 2002

ABSTRACT
A Zn
2+ transport system encoded by the
zntB locus of
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium has been identified. The protein
encoded by this locus is homologous to the CorA family of Mg
2+ transport proteins and is widely distributed among the eubacteria.
Mutations at
zntB confer an increased sensitivity to the cytotoxic
effects of Zn
2+ and Cd
2+, a phenotype that suggests that the
encoded protein mediates the efflux of both cations. A direct
analysis of transport activity identified a capacity for Zn
2+ efflux. These data identify ZntB as a zinc efflux pathway in
the enteric bacteria and assign a new function to the CorA family
of cation transporters.

INTRODUCTION
Zinc is the second most abundant transition metal in biological
systems (
6,
11,
24). It is an essential element that is employed
in a wide range of biochemical and biophysical roles. It is
required to maintain the structural stability of macromolecules
and to serve as a cofactor for more than 300 metabolic enzymes.
It also plays a prominent role in gene expression as a structural
component in a large number of Zn
2+-dependent transcription
factors (
4,
19). While the cellular requirement for zinc is
absolute, excess concentrations of the cation are highly toxic.
Consequently, the ability to maintain the intracellular Zn
2+ concentration within very narrow limits is a fundamental property
of all living cells. Enteric bacteria are currently thought
to maintain Zn
2+ homeostasis through the activities of at least
four Zn
2+-specific transport systems. Zinc uptake is facilitated
by the combined activities of the ZnuABC and ZupT transport
systems (
10,
13). The ZnuABC system is the primary Zn
2+ influx
pathway and is induced in response to zinc deprivation (
16).
Bacteria respond to high levels of exogenous Zn
2+ by increased
expression of the ZntA and ZitB efflux systems (
2,
5,
9,
17).
The previously uncharacterized open reading frame
b1342 of
Escherichia coli encodes a protein that is homologous to the CorA family
of cation transporters (
3,
20). In
Salmonella enterica serovar
Typhimurium and
E. coli, CorA functions as the primary influx
pathway for Mg
2+ and is distinguished by its unique ability
to mediate both the influx and efflux of Mg
2+ (
8,
22,
23). In
an effort to ascertain the function of the peptide encoded by
b1342, our laboratory identified the corresponding allele in
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium and disrupted it by the insertion
of an antibiotic resistance cassette. In this report, we show
that the serovar Typhimurium homolog of
b1342 encodes an additional
zinc transport system. Mutations at this locus resulted in an
increased sensitivity to cytotoxic levels of Zn
2+ and Cd
2+ and
a reduced capacity for zinc efflux. Consequently, the mutated
gene and its protein product were designated ZntB.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Bacterial strains and plasmids.
The bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study are listed
in Table
1. Plasmids were maintained in
E. coli Top10F' unless
indicated otherwise.
Culture media and reagents.
Bacteria were grown at 37°C with aeration in Luria-Bertani
(LB) medium or on LB agar plates (
14), except when otherwise
stated. Minimal medium was based on the N medium of Nelson and
Kennedy (
15), supplemented with 0.25% glucose, 0.02% Casamino
Acids, and 1 mM MgSO
4. Antibiotics were added to complex and
minimal culture media, respectively, at the following concentrations:
sodium ampicillin salt (100 and 30 µg/ml), kanamycin sulfate
(50 and 100 µg/ml), chloramphenicol (25 and 10 µg/ml).
Restriction endonucleases, T4 DNA ligase, and shrimp alkaline
phosphatase were obtained from Promega Corporation. Sequencing
enzymes and associated biochemicals were obtained from Epicentre
Technologies.
65ZnCl
2 was purchased from Perkin Elmer Life Sciences,
Inc. Additional chemicals were obtained from standard suppliers.
DNA manipulations and zntB mutant construction.
Construction of the serovar Typhimurium zntB mutant strain was performed as described previously by Datsenko and Wanner (7) with the following modifications: pKD46 was first moved into serovar Typhimurium 14028s by electroporation. The zntB1::
Cm mutagenic cassette was gel purified and transformed into 14028s/pKD46. Chloramphenicol-resistant transformants were subsequently cured of pKD46 by growth at 40°C. Chromosomal integration of the mutagenic cassette was confirmed by PCR and sequenced using oligonucleotides external to the integrated cassette. Plasmid DNA was prepared from 5-ml cultures using the Qiaprep Spin Miniprep kit obtained from Qiagen. Genomic DNA was isolated using a PureGene purification kit obtained from Gentra Systems. Restriction endonuclease digestion, DNA ligation, and transformation of linear and plasmid DNA were performed as described previously (1).
Quantitation of cation sensitivity.
Susceptibility profiles were generated by disk diffusion and growth curve analyses. Bacterial lawns were spread on N-minimal agar plates, and 8-mm sterile filter disks were placed in the center. Lethal levels of ZnSO4, CoCl2, NiCl2, MnCl2, and CdCl2 (100 mM, 100 mM, 1 M, 1 M, and 100 mM, respectively) were added to the disks. Zones of inhibition were measured after 24 h of growth at 37°C. In addition, growth was monitored over time in N-minimal media containing various levels of ZnSO4. Overnight cultures were diluted 1:100 into appropriate growth assay media and readings of the optical density at 600 nm (OD600) were made every hour until stationary phase was reached.
65Zn2+ uptake.
Overnight cultures were diluted 100-fold into supplemented N-minimal medium and grown at 37°C with aeration to an OD600 of 0.4. Cells were then washed twice with ice-cold N-minimal medium without MgSO4, Casamino Acids, and glucose supplementation. The pellet was resuspended in wash buffer to a final OD600 of between 1.0 and 2.0. Uptake was measured at 37°C in N-minimal medium containing 10 mM MgSO4, 0.25% glucose, and 6 µM 65ZnCl2. The reaction was initiated by addition of prewarmed cells. At timed intervals, 100-µl samples were removed and filtered through nitrocellulose filters (0.45-µm pore size; Whatman). Filters were washed with 8 ml of cold wash buffer containing 0.5 mM EDTA. Radioactivity was analyzed by gamma counting. A background value, obtained from 1 ml of assay mixture without the addition of cells, was subtracted from all readings.
65Zn2+ efflux.
Cells were grown and washed as stated above with the following changes. Washed cells were resuspended in N-minimal medium supplemented with glucose, MgSO4, and Casamino Acids and containing 100 µM MnCl2. Cells were incubated at 37°C for 1 h to allow Mn2+ to bind intracellular sites and allow efflux. 65ZnCl2 was added to 600-µl cell suspension aliquots to a final concentration of 5 µM and incubated for 20 min. Cells were pelleted at 12,000 x g for 3 min, the supernatant was removed, and the cells were resuspended in 600 µl of assay buffer (N-minimal medium with nutrient supplements and 10 µM ZnSO4). At timed intervals, 100-µl aliquots of the cell suspension were removed and collected on nitrocellulose filters as described above. Radioactivity was analyzed by gamma counting.
DNA sequencing and PCR.
DNA sequencing was performed by the dideoxy chain termination method of Sanger et al. (18) as modified by Tabor and Richardson (25), using T7 DNA polymerase obtained from Epicentre Technologies. Initial reactions were performed using M13 -20 promoter primers obtained from LI-COR Biosciences. Subsequent reactions employed synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide primers complementary or identical to segments within a previously sequenced segment. PCRs were performed using the Opti-Prime PCR optimization kit obtained from Stratagene and oligodeoxynucleotide primers obtained from Integrated DNA Technologies.
Nucleotide sequence accession number.
The nucleotide sequence of the S. enterica serovar Typhimurium zntB locus was deposited in the nucleotide database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information with the accession number AF308568.

RESULTS
Disruption of zntB increases sensitivity to zinc.
Allelic replacement techniques were used to disrupt the
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium homolog of
b1342 by the insertion of a chloramphenicol
resistance cassette into the coding sequence, producing strain
RS1100 (
7). Bacteriophage P22-mediated cotransduction techniques
were used to determine the position of the
zntB locus on the
serovar Typhimurium chromosome. The insertion mutation mapped
to centisome 36 and was 100% linked to
oxrA(
fnr), which is in
agreement with the recently completed genome sequence. The effects
of the insertion mutation on metal sensitivity were determined
by disk diffusion assay. Disruption of this locus did not significantly
alter the sensitivities to cobalt, nickel, or manganese compared
to those of the wild-type strain RS404. However, the loss of
this allele had a marked effect on resistance levels to zinc
and cadmium (Fig.
1). The increased zones of sensitivity displayed
by the mutant suggest that the product of
b1342 might participate
in the extrusion of Zn
2+ and possibly Cd
2+. Consequently,
b1342 and its gene product were designated ZntB (for Zn
2+ transport).
Expression of a wild-type
zntB allele in the mutant background
partially restored resistance to zinc but had no measurable
effect on resistance to cadmium. Growth of the
zntB mutant (RS1100)
and wild-type (RS404) strains was measured in minimal growth
media containing a range of inhibitory zinc concentrations (Fig.
2). The wild type displayed half-maximal growth in medium containing
60 µM Zn
2+. By comparison, the
zntB mutant displayed half-maximal
growth at 20 µM Zn
2+. The zinc-sensitive phenotype displayed
by RS1100 could be partially rescued through the introduction
of a low-copy-number plasmid encoding the wild-type
zntB allele
(pAJW54). This strain (RS1100/pAJW54) attained half-maximal
growth at 45 µM Zn
2+.
ZntB does not function as a Mg2+ uptake system.
ZntB is homologous to the CorA family of cation transporters
(
12,
20). In serovar Typhimurium and
E. coli, CorA functions
as the primary influx and efflux pathway for Mg
2+ (
22,
23).
The ability of ZntB to function as a Mg
2+ transport system was
tested. Strain MM281 carries insertion mutations in each of
the three known Mg
2+ transport loci (
mgtA,
mgtCB, and
corA)
which render the cell unable to grow unless supplemented with
100 mM Mg
2+. The Mg
2+-dependent growth of MM281 can be rescued
by introducing a plasmid encoding a functional Mg
2+ transport
system (
21). Strain RS1225 (MM281/pAJW54) displayed a Mg
2+ growth
dependence that was indistinguishable from that exhibited by
MM281 (Fig.
3). In stark contrast, strains expressing CorAs
from serovar Typhimurium (MM281/pRS310) and the archaeon
Methanococcus jannaschii (MM281/pRS319) displayed a pronounced leftward shift
in Mg
2+ dependence for growth. Thus, at the level of growth,
ZntB does not function as a Mg
2+ uptake system.
65Zn2+ transport assays.
To characterize the transport activity of ZntB, uptake of
65Zn
2+ was measured in RS404 (wild-type serovar Typhimurium), RS1100
(
zntB mutant), and the complementing strain RS1100/pAJW54. All
three strains exhibited similar rates of uptake. The total amount
of
65Zn
2+ accumulated by the
zntB mutant was 1.2-fold greater
than the wild-type control accumulation. Expression of
zntB from pAJW54 reduced the level of zinc accumulation to 1.1-fold
of the levels demonstrated by the wild type (Fig.
4). These
data indicate that ZntB does not facilitate zinc uptake, but
rather suggest a possible role in the efflux of zinc. This was
directly tested by introducing pAJW54 into a Zn
2+ transport-deficient
strain of
E. coli and measuring the rate of
65Zn
2+ efflux. GR480
contains mutations in each of the known Zn
2+ transport loci
(
zntA,
zitB,
zupD,
znuABC, and
yiiP) but retains a functional
zntB allele (
9,
10). This gene was disrupted by the insertion
of a chloramphenicol resistance cassette producing strain RS1220
(
7). The presence of the single chromosomal
zntB allele carried
in strain GR480 resulted in an efflux rate that was 5-fold greater
than the rate for the transport-deficient strain (RS1220). Expression
of ZntB from pAJW54 further increased the rate of
65Zn
2+ efflux
8.8-fold (Fig.
5). Thus, ZntB is able to facilitate the efflux
of zinc.

DISCUSSION
In this report, we demonstrate that the
zntB locus of
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium encodes a protein that is involved in the
transmembrane flux of zinc. Mutations at
zntB render the cell
hypersensitive to the cytotoxic effects of zinc, as indicated
by disk diffusion analysis and growth characterization. This
phenotype suggests that ZntB plays a role in the efflux of this
cation. A direct examination of transport activity revealed
that
zntB mutations diminish the capacity to extrude Zn
2+ without
significantly affecting the uptake activity. Moreover, this
transport deficiency could be complemented by a plasmid encoding
a wild-type
zntB allele. The ZntB transporter is homologous
to the CorA Mg
2+ transport protein, which is the defining member
of a large class of unusual proteins that appear to be widely
distributed throughout the bacteria and the archaea (
20,
22).
In
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium and
E. coli, CorA functions
as the primary influx pathway for magnesium and is responsible
for more than 95% of the total magnesium accumulated under normal
growth conditions. The ZntB transporter, however, is not able
to function as a Mg
2+ uptake pathway. Our results identify ZntB
as a novel transport system for Zn
2+ in the enteric bacteria
and, as such, assign a new function to the ubiquitous CorA family
of cation transporters.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by a grant from The Welch Foundation
(Y1485) to R.L.S.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019. Phone: (817) 272-2411. Fax: (817) 272-2855. E-mail:
rlsmith{at}airmail.net.


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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2002, p. 4369-4373, Vol. 184, No. 16
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.16.4369-4373.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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