Evidence for energy-dependent copper efflux as a mechanism of Cu²⁺resistance in the cyanobacterium<i>Nostoc calcicola</i>

Abstract

Wild-type Nostoc calcicola carried out oxygenic photosynthesis extremely sensitive to copper. A Cu(2+)-resistant mutant (Cu-R1) of the cyanobacterium grew normally at high concentrations of Cu2+. Its ability to grow under such conditions was found to be due to mutational acquisition of an energy-dependent efficient system of Cu(2+)-efflux, which rendered Cu(2+)-inhibited oxygenic photosynthesis fully reversible.