Intracellular sequestration of zinc, cadmium and silver in Hebeloma mesophaeum and characterization of its metallothionein genes

• Metal species in Hebeloma mesophaeum sporocarps and mycelia have been characterized.
• Zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) are sequestered in subcellular compartments.
• Accumulated silver (Ag) and the excess cytosolic Zn and Cd are associated with metallothioneins.
• Three metallothionein genes characterized: HmMT1 and sequence-related HmMT2 and HmMT3.
• HmMT1 specifically increased Zn and HmMT2 and HmMT3 Ag tolerance in yeasts.

Sequestration of intracellular heavy metals in eukaryotes involves compartmentalization and binding with cytosolic, cysteine-rich metallothionein (MT) peptides. We examined the roles of these processes in handling of zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and silver (Ag) in sporocarps and a metal-exposed extraradical mycelium of Hebeloma mesophaeum, the Zn-accumulating ectomycorrhizal (EM) species frequently associated with metal disturbed sites. Size exclusion chromatography revealed that the majority of Zn and Cd in the sporocarps and mycelium was contained in a low molecular mass fraction attributable to compartmentalized metal. The staining of hyphal cells with the Zn-specific Zinquin and Cd-specific Leadmium fluorescent tracers labeled Zn and Cd in small, punctuated vesicles and vacuoles, respectively. By contrast, the sporocarp and mycelium Ag was associated with cysteine-rich, 5-kDa peptides. The peptides of the same size were also identified in minor Zn and Cd complexes from the metal-exposed mycelium. We have further isolated and characterized HmMT1, HmMT2 and HmMT3 genes coding for different 5-kDa MTs of H. mesophaeum collected at a lead smelter site. Heterologous complementation assays in metal-sensitive yeast mutants indicated that HmMTs encode functional, metal-specific peptides: only HmMT1 was able to complement sensitivity to Zn; HmMT1 conferred higher tolerance to Cd and Cu than HmMT2 or HmMT3; and both HmMT2 and HmMT3, but not HmMT1, conferred increased tolerance to Ag. The presence of HmMT1 and HmMT3, but not HmMT2, was also confirmed in a H. mesophaeum isolate from an unpolluted site. Gene expression analysis in the extraradical mycelium of this isolate revealed that the transcription of HmMT1 was preferentially induced in the presence of Zn and Cd, while Ag was a stronger inducer of HmMT3. Altogether, these results improve our understanding of the handling of intracellular Zn, Cd and Ag in Hebeloma and represent the first evidence suggesting involvement of MTs in sequestration of Zn in EM fungi.