Stress responses analysis of As(III), Cd and Pb inEscherichia coli

In this study, it was analyzed specific stress responses caused by heavy metals such as sodium arsenite (As(III)), cadmium nitrate (Cd) and led nitrate (Pb) using four different stress responsive genes inEscherichia coli, i. e. fabA, grpE, katG andrecA. The expression levels of these genes were quantified by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. It was found that four genes have shown different responsive patterns whenE. coli cultures were under stressful conditions caused by As(III), Cd and Pb, respectively. Therefore, in this study, the stress responsive effects caused by these heavy metals and the extent of each stress response can be analyzed using the expression levels and patterns of different stress responsive genes.