Research

Environmental Microbiology, structure and function of metal transport proteins

Research: Supplementary material in pdf format

Table 1. PCR primers used for site-directed mutagenesis (Lee et al., 2002)
Figure 1. Multiple alignment of the CDF family proteins

Education

1996 Ph.D. at the Free University Berlin/Germany
Advisor: Dr. Dietrich Nies
Thesis: Bacterial Heavy Metal Resistances and their Expression in Eukaryotes.

1992 Diplom (equivalent to M. Sc.) at the Free University of Berlin/Germany
Advisor: Dr. Baerbel Friedrich

1988 Vordiplom (equivalent to B. Sc.) at the Free University of Berlin German

Teaching

Microbial Physiology: http://microvet.arizona.edu/Courses/MIC328/index.html

Chronology of Employment

2007-present               Associate Professor
Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

1999 – 2007                Assistant Professor
Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

1996 – 1999                Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan

1991 – 1996                Research Fellow
Department of Microbiology, Free University of Berlin and Martin-Luther University Halle/Wittenberg

Awards

1997 National Research Service Award by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Selected Publications

Rensing, C., B. Mitra, and B.P. Rosen. 1997. The zntA gene of Escherichia coli encodes a Zn(II)-translocating P-type ATPase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 14326-14331.

Rensing, C., B. Fan, R. Sharma, B. Mitra, and B. P. Rosen. 2000. CopA: an Escherichia coli Cu(I)-translocating P-type ATPase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 652-656.

Grass, G., and C. Rensing. 2001. Genes involved in copper homeostasis in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 183: 2145-2147.

Roberts S.A., A. Weichsel, G. Grass, K. Thakali, J.T. Hazzard, G. Tollin, C. Rensing, and W.R. Montfort. 2002. Crystal structure and electron transfer kinetics of CueO, a multi-copper oxidase required for copper homeostasis in Escherichia coli. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 2766-2771.

Franke, S., G. Grass, C. Rensing and D.H. Nies. 2003. Molecular analysis of the copper-transporting efflux system CusCFBA from Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 185: 3804-3812.

Wang, G., S.P. Kennedy, S. Fasiludeen, C. Rensing, and S. DasSarma. 2004. Arsenic resistance in Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 examined using an improved genetic knockout system. J. Bacteriol. 186: 3187-3194.

Grass, G., K. Thakali, P.E. Klebba, D. Thieme, A. Müller, G.F. Wildner, and C. Rensing. 2004. Linkage between catecholate siderophores and the multi-copper oxidase CueO in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 186: 5826-5833.

Grass, G., S. Franke, N. Taudte, D.H. Nies, L.M. Kucharski, M.E. Maguire and C. Rensing. 2005. The metal permease ZupT from Escherichia coli is a transporter with a broad substrate spectrum. J. Bacteriol. 187: 1604-1611.

Rensing, C. 2005. Form and function in metal-dependent transcriptional regulation: dawn of the enlightment. J. Bacteriol. 187: 3909-3912.

Haney, C.J., G. Grass, S. Franke, and C. Rensing. 2005. New developments in functional understanding of the cation-diffusion-facilitator family. J. Indust. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 32: 215-226.

Loftin, R.I., S. Franke, A. Weichsel, S.A. Roberts, A. Heroux, W.R. Montfort, C. Rensing, and M.M. McEvoy. 2005. A novel copper-binding fold for the periplasmic copper resistance protein CusF. Biochemistry 44: 10533-10540.

Qin, J., B.P. Rosen, Y. Zhang, G. Wang, S. Franke, and C. Rensing. 2006. Arsenic detoxification and evolution of trimethylarsine gas by a microbial arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103: 2075-2080. 

Quaranta, D., R. McCarty, V. Bandarian, and C. Rensing. 2007. The copper-inducible cin operon encodes an unusual methionine-rich azurin and a queuosine reductase in Pseudomonas putida KT 2440. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5361-5371.

Baggay, I., W. Liu, C. Rensing, N. J. Blackburn and M. McEvoy. 2007. Substrate-linked conformational change in the periplasmic component of a Cu(I)/Ag(I) efflux system. J. Biol. Chem. In press.

Selected Bookchapters

Rensing, C., and B.P. Rosen. 2000. Transport of soft metals in prokaryotes. In Molecular Biology and Toxicology of Metals. Zalpus, R.K., and J. Koronpatnik, editors. Taylor and Francis, London. 129-149.

Rensing, C. and G. Grass, 2003, Efflux systems in metallophiles, in Extremophiles, edited by C. Gerday, In Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK, [http://www.eolss.net]

Hasman, H., S. Franke, and C. Rensing. 2006. Resistance to metals used in agricultural production. In Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria of Animal Origin. Aarestrup, F.M., and H.C. Wegener, editors. ASM Press, Washington, D.C. 99-114.

Franke, S. and C. Rensing. 2007. Acidophiles: mechanisms to tolerate metal and acid toxicity. In Physiology and Biochemistry of Extremophiles. Gerday, C., and N. Glansdorff, editors. ASM Press, Washington, D.C. 271-278.

Mitra, B. and C. Rensing. 2007. Zinc, cadmium and lead resistance and homeostasis. In Molecular Microbiology of heavy metals. Nies, D.H., and S. Silver, editors. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. 321-341.

Grants

Biotechnological Exploitation of Halotolerant Enzymes. C. Rensing (P.I.) and I.L. Pepper (Co-P.I.), 2004-2007, NSF, $150,000.

The Role of Protein Interactions in Microbial Copper/Silver Resistance. M. McEvoy (P.I.) and C. Rensing (Co-P.I.), 2007-2011, NIH $1,064,000.