Metals and metalloids are used as weapons for predatory feeding by unicellular eukaryotes on prokaryotes. This review emphasizes the role of metal(loid) bioavailability over the course of Earth's history, coupled with eukaryogenesis and the evolution of the mitochondrion to trace the emergence and use of the metal(loid) prey-killing phagosome as a feeding strategy. Members of the genera Acanthamoeba and Dictyostelium use metals such as zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu), and possibly metalloids, to kill their bacterial prey after phagocytosis. We provide a potential timeline on when these capacities first evolved and how they correlate with perceived changes in metal(loid) bioavailability through Earth's history. The origin of phagotrophic eukaryotes must have postdated the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) in agreement with redox-dependent modification of metal(loid) bioavailability for phagotrophic poisoning. However, this predatory mechanism is predicted to have evolved much later - closer to the origin of the multicellular metazoans and the evolutionary development of the immune systems.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.008 | DOI Listing |
Huan Jing Ke Xue
January 2025
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Land Quality Geological Survey, Southeast Sichuan Geological Group, Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Minerals Exploration, Chongqing 400038, China.
Heavy metals (HMs) pollution in agricultural soil-rice systems has attracted worldwide attention as it directly threatens regional ecological security and human health. To understand the heavy metal pollution of agriculture soil and rice in the high geological background areas, a total of 200 paddy soil and rice samples were collected in southeast Chongqing. The concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in paddy soil and rice were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
December 2024
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil. Electronic address:
Contamination with potentially toxic metals and metalloids (PTMs) in mining areas poses significant environment and human health risks. Using biochar as an amendment can be a cost-effective and eco-friendly method to reduce PTM bioavailability in contaminated soils, thus lowering plant uptake. This study investigated biochar derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) at three pyrolysis temperatures (300, 500, and 700 °C) and two application rates (1% and 5%, w/w) for the remediation of slag-contaminated soils from an old environmental liability in the Ribeira Valley (Brazil).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuan Jing Ke Xue
December 2024
Beijing Institute of Mineral Geology, Beijing 101500, China.
A contamination analysis was conducted on the soil and crops in the Liu Jia Dian gold mining area of the Pinggu District, Beijing, utilizing the contents and seven-step forms of heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Cr, Pb, and As) in soil and the heavy metal contents in crops at the same location. An assessment of ecological risk caused by heavy metal contamination in the soil and crops was carried out using the enrichment coefficient method and the risk assessment coding method. The study investigated the process of heavy metal absorption and enrichment in the soil-crop system, aiming to establish a scientific foundation for preventing and controlling soil pollution, as well as ensuring the safety of edible crops in the study area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Chem
December 2024
The State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.
Recent advances in targeted protein degradation (TPD) have propelled it to the forefront of small molecular drug discovery. Among these, hydrophobic tagging (HyT) strategies have garnered significant interest. Carbon-based hydrophobic tags have been recognized as effective Hyts for degrading a variety of target proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Microbiol Rep
December 2024
Laboratory Exploring Geobiochemical Engineering and Natural Dynamics (LEGEND), Department of Chemistry & Geochemistry, Montana Technological University, Butte, Montana, USA.
Aqueous metals are pervasive contaminants associated with historical mining. We produced and examined 16 metagenomes from a contaminated creek to investigate how anthropogenic metal contamination shapes the functional profiles of microbial communities. We then incorporated the metagenomic profiles and concurrently collected geochemical context into a multivariate model to examine correlations between stream geochemistry and microbial functional potential.
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