Copper management strategies in obligate bacterial symbionts: balancing cost and benefit

Abstract

Bacteria employ diverse mechanisms to manage toxic copper in their environments, and these evolutionary strategies can be divided into two main categories: accumulation and rationalization of metabolic pathways. The strategies employed depend on the bacteria's lifestyle and environmental context, optimizing the metabolic cost-benefit ratio. Environmental and opportunistically pathogenic bacteria often possess an extensive range of copper regulation systems in order to respond to variations in copper concentrations and environmental conditions, investing in diversity and/or redundancy as a safeguard against uncertainty. In contrast, obligate symbiotic bacteria, such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Bordetella pertussis, tend to have specialized and more parsimonious copper regulation systems designed to function in the relatively stable host environment. These evolutionary strategies maintain copper homeostasis even in challenging conditions like encounters within phagocytic cells. These examples highlight the adaptability of bacterial copper management systems, tailored to their specific lifestyles and environmental requirements, in the context of an evolutionary the trade-off between benefits and energy costs.