The metal core of bacterial virulence

Metal speciation and bioavailability have changed greatly over the course of Earth‘s history. Copper and zinc became much more accessible whereas iron became scarce during the Great Oxidation event. Our hypothesis centers around these parameters in that soft metals such as copper and zinc were used to kill bacteria by destroying iron-sulfur clusters. In contrast to bacteria and archaea, eukaryotes evolved during this time and built their physiology and enzymatic repertoire around these new circumstances. Amoeba and other predatory protozoans needed a mechanism to kill their bacterial prey. The corresponding bacterial metal resistance systems as well as mechanisms enhancing iron and sulfur uptake were needed for survival from protozoan predation and thus constitute the first virulence determinants. Copper resistance still plays an important role in bacterial pathogenicity.
Professor Dr. Christopher Rensing studied at the Freie Universität Berlin where he received his Diploma in microbiology working with Professor  Dr. Bärbel Friedrich. His PhD thesis was obtained under the mentorship of Professor Dr. Dietrich Nies both at the Freie Universität Berlin and Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg in 1996. Afterwards he worked as a postdoc with Professor Dr. Barry Rosen at Wayne State University in Detroit. In 1999 he accepted a professorship at the University of Arizona in Tucson. After a short stay at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina he accepted his current professorship at the University of Copenhagen in 2012. Presently, he is also a faculty member at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xiamen and visiting professor at King Saud University in Riyadh.
Moderation: Dr. Rainer Cramm