Selenium influences gene regulation in methanogens

Trace elements are essential for the survival of all organisms. Many living organisms, including humans, are dependent on an adequate supply of selenium (named after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene). The cellular processes for which selenium is important differ considerably in individual systems. The methane-forming microbe Methanococcus maripaludis, which belongs to the archaea domain, occupies a special position with regard to selenium utilization: although it uses selenium in the central metabolism, methanogenesis, the trace element is dispensable under certain conditions. The Faculty's Department of Microbial Diversity has now investigated how selenium supply or deficiency affects the global gene expression of M. maripaludis. It was found that almost 7% of all genes are differentially expressed depending on the cellular "selenium status", with significantly more genes responding to selenium deficiency. The researchers now need to find out what this means in detail. However, the results inspired the question of whether the type of selenium source, e.g. as a selenium-containing amino acid or volatile methyl compound, has an influence on its use. In fact, the concentrations that led to the uptake and metabolism of individual selenium compounds differed by up to 10,000-fold. In future, the researchers want to find out how the presence of the trace element selenium is perceived in the cell, how this information is passed on and the mechanism by which gene expression ultimately changes.

Original work:

Funkner, K., Poehlein, A., Jehmlich, N., Egelkamp, R ., Daniel, R., von Bergen, M. and Rother, M. (2024) Proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of selenium utilization in Methanococcus maripaludis. mSystems 9: e01338-23, doi: 10.1128/msystems.01338-23.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Michael Rother
Institute of Microbiology
TU Dresden
Phone: 0351-46342611
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