Nickel availability and urease expression in Proteus mirabilis

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Abstract
Cells of Proteus mirabilis, previously grown in nutrient broth (NB), exhibited an increase in urease activity during subsequent incubation in mineral medium even when protein biosynthesis was inhibited. During growth in NB, degradation of amino acids obviously led to the formation of nickel-complexing metabolites, and nickel ions were therefore inavailable for maximal expression of enzymatically active urease; this inhibition of urcase biosynthesis was overcome by the addition of nickel to the growth medium, and also by added glucose. Experiments concerning the incorporation of radioactive nickel into urease finally indicated that the observed increase in urease activity was caused by posttranslational insertion of nickel into preformed apourease.