Two Unconventional Metallothioneins in the Apple Snail Pomacea bridgesii Have Lost Their Metal Specificity during Adaptation to Freshwater Habitats
García-Risco, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)
Calatayud, Sara (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)
Niederwanger, Michael (University of Innsbruck. Institute of Zoology)
Albalat, Ricard (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)
Palacios Bonilla, Òscar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)
Capdevila Vidal, Mercè (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)
Dallinger, Reinhard (University of Innsbruck. Institute of Zoology)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Metallothioneins (MTs) are a diverse group of proteins responsible for the control of metal homeostasis and detoxification. To investigate the impact that environmental conditions might have had on the metal-binding abilities of these proteins, we have characterized the MTs from the apple snail Pomacea bridgesii, a gastropod species belonging to the class of Caenogastropoda with an amphibious lifestyle facing diverse situations of metal bioavailability. P. bridgesii has two structurally divergent MTs, named PbrMT1 and PbrMT2, that are longer than other gastropod MTs due to the presence of extra sequence motifs and metal-binding domains. We have characterized the Zn(II), Cd(II), and Cu(I) binding abilities of these two MTs after their heterologous expression in E. coli. Our results have revealed that despite their structural differences, both MTs share an unspecific metal-binding character, and a great ability to cope with elevated amounts of different metal ions. Our analyses have also revealed slight divergences in their metal-binding features: PbrMT1 shows a more pronounced Zn(II)-thionein character than PbrMT2, while the latter has a stronger Cu(I)-thionein character. The characterization of these two unconventional PbrMTs supports the loss of the metal-binding specificity during the evolution of the MTs of the Ampullariid family, and further suggests an evolutionary link of this loss with the adaptation of these gastropod lineages to metal-poor freshwater habitats.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BIO2015-67358-C2-2-P Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BIO2015-67358-C2-1-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-864 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1665
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Metallothionein ; Metal-specificity ; Protein domains ; Pomacea bridgesii ; Mollusca ; Gastropoda
Published in:	International journal of molecular sciences, Vol. 22, Issue 1 (January 2021) , art. 95, ISSN 1422-0067

DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010095
PMID: 33374169

15 p, 1.8 MB

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