A widespread family of ribosomal peptide metallophores involved in bacterial adaptation to metal stress

Bacteria synthesize a plethora of specialized metabolites to communicate, compete and adapt to their environment. We characterized a new family of modified peptides that we called ‘bufferins’, as they protect from the toxic effects of copper, which is notably used by the mammalian immune system to kill bacterial pathogens. We discovered that a model bufferin carries rare post-translational modifications involved in copper complexation, thiooxazole heterocycles. The modification enzyme of bufferins might represent a new antibacterial target. Bufferins might also be used for bioremediation purposes.

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