<p>This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p> <p><italic>Ralstonia (Wautersia, Cupriavidus) metallidurans</italic> (Rme) is better able to withstand
high concentrations of heavy metals than any other well-studied organism. This fact
renders it a potential agent of bioremediation as well as an ideal model organism for
understanding metal resistance phenotypes. We have analysed the genome of Rme
for genes encoding homologues of established and putative transport proteins; 13%
of all genes in Rme encode such homologues. Nearly one-third of the transporters
identified (32%) appear to function in inorganic ion transport with three-quarters
of these acting on cations. Transporters specific for amino acids outnumber sugar
transporters nearly 3 : 1, and this fact plus the large number of uptake systems for
organic acids indicates the heterotrophic preferences of these bacteria. Putative drug
efflux pumps comprise 10% of the encoded transporters, but numerous efflux pumps
for heavy metals, metabolites and macromolecules were also identified. The results
presented should facilitate genetic manipulation and mechanistic studies of transport
in this remarkable bacterium.</p>
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Comp Funct Genomics. 2005 Feb-Mar; 6(1-2):17-56