Copper tolerance in marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus — proteomic analysis of the periplasm

Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus was shown to have a high tolerance to copper sulphate. A minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.6 mM was determined, thus classifying Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus as copper resistant. A proteomic approach based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis provided a preliminary analysis over the differential protein expression induced by 1 mM of copper in Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus. The copper stress led to a global change in the proteomic profile of the periplasmic fraction of this bacterium, involving modulation of the expression of 53 out of the close to 500 proteins detected, when compared with control growths with trace copper concentration.