RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Kalsotra, Tania A1 Khullar, Shikha A1 Agnihotri, Radhika A1 Reddy, Mondem SudhakaraYR 2018 T1 Metal induction of two metallothionein genes in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus himalayensis and their role in metal tolerance JF Microbiology, VO 164 IS 6 SP 868 OP 876 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000666 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB Metallothioneins (MTs) are small proteins with highly conserved cysteine residues and are involved in metal homeostasis and metal detoxification. Two metallothionein genes ShMT1 and ShMT2 from the ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus himalayensis were characterised for their potential role in heavy metal detoxification. The response of these MTs to the exogenous concentrations of copper and cadmium was studied by qPCR analysis. The exogenous copper but not the cadmium at the tested concentrations induced the expression of the MT genes. The functional role of ShMTs was validated by expressing the two genes through functional complementation in yeast mutant strain cup1Δ (copper-sensitive), ycf1Δ (cadmium- sensitive) and zrc1Δ (zinc-sensitive). The mutant strain successfully expressed the two genes resulting in wild-type phenotype restoration of copper, cadmium and zinc tolerance. The present study shows that the ectomycorrhizal fungus S. himalayensis encodes two metallothionein genes (ShMT1 and ShMT2) which are more inducible by copper than cadmium and could play an important role in their detoxification., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000666