Role of Nickel in Microbial Pathogenesis

This paper established that nickel serves as an essential cofactor for virulence enzymes across more than 40 prokaryotic and 9 eukaryotic pathogens — and that mammals produce no known nickel-requiring proteins. That single asymmetry is the foundation of WikiBiome's metallomics thesis: nickel restriction could disable pathogen virulence without harming the host. Without this paper, WikiBiome could not explain why nickel contamination in agriculture selects for pathogenic organisms in the gut, a connection that underpins the metallomic layer of multiple disease signatures.