Metalloregulatory proteins allow cells to sense metal ions and appropriately adjust the expression of metal uptake, storage, and efflux pathways. Bacillus subtilis provides a model for the coordinate regulation of iron and manganese homeostasis that involves three key regulators: Fur senses iron sufficiency, MntR senses manganese sufficiency, and PerR senses the intracellular Fe/Mn ratio. Here, I review the structural and physiological bases of selective metal perception, the effects of non-cognate metals, and mechanisms that may serve to coordinate iron and manganese homeostasis.
Keywords: Bacillus; Gene Regulation; Iron; Iron Metabolism; Manganese; Metal Homeostasis; Metal Ion-Protein Interaction; Repressor Protein; Zinc.
© 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.