CopC protein from pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 features a conserved novel high-affinity Cu(II) binding site

Abstract

Copper homeostasis in the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 appears to be mediated mainly via chromosomal cue and cop systems. Under elevated copper levels that induce stress, the cue system is activated for expression of a P1B-type ATPase to remove excess copper from the cytosol. Under copper-limiting conditions, the cop system is activated to express two copper uptake proteins, Pf-CopCD, to import this essential nutrient. Pf-CopC is a periplasmic copper chaperone that may donate copper to the inner membrane transporter Pf-CopD for active copper importation. A database search revealed that Pf-CopC belongs to a new family of CopC proteins (designated Type B in this work) that differs s..