Zinc-handling in cyanobacteria: an update

Zinc is a constituent of all six classes of enzymes, plays important roles in gene regulation, and is thought to be essential for most organisms. Despite initial discoveries of cyanobacterial metallothioneins, zinc efflux pumps and uptake systems, and zinc sensors, our knowledge of the zinc requirements, uptake, and detoxification mechanisms of cyanobacteria is still limited. Although cyanobacteria occupy extremely diverse habitats, most available data pertains to freshwater species, and almost no studies of zinc-handling mechanisms have been conducted in marine species. The current report highlights what is known about zinc homeostasis in cyanobacteria, and presents an analysis of the 40 sequenced cyanobacterial genomes.