Speaker
Description
The interplay between polyphenolic antioxidants and metal homeostasis is a complex and increasingly relevant topic with significant implications for biotechnology and environmental applications. While polyphenols are widely recognised for their antioxidant and metal-chelating properties, their role in modulating intracellular metal accumulation remains insufficiently explored.
In this study, we used Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants defective in metal transport to investigate how polyphenolic antioxidants influence the cellular accumulation of essential metals. We show that flavonoids such as morin and quercetin1 modulate Mn2+ and Zn2+ homeostasis, augmenting cell tolerance and, in certain cases, intracellular metal retention. These findings indicate that polyphenols not only reduce metal toxicity via chelation but also act as buffering agents that regulate bioavailable metal ions, enabling more controlled and physiologically-compatible accumulation without immediate toxicity. Moreover, metal supplementation (especially Zn2+) demonstrated that polyphenols can shift the accumulation dynamics from beneficial to toxic, highlighting their potential to modulate metal uptake through antioxidant–metal combinations.
Overall, our results support the idea that polyphenols can facilitate controlled cellular bioaccumulation of metals, with promising applications in bioremediation, metal recovery, and microbial cell factories, while requiring careful optimisation to avoid toxicity.