The Sinorhizobium meliloti nutrient-deprivation-induced tyrosine degradation gene hmgA is controlled by a novel member of the arsR family of regulatory genes

The regulation of the nutrient-deprivation-induced Sinorhizobium meliloti homogentisate dioxygenase (hmgA) gene, involved in tyrosine degradation, was examined. hmgA expression was found to be independent of the canonical nitrogen regulation (ntr) system. To identify regulators of hmgA, secondary mutagenesis of an S. meliloti strain harboring a hmgA-luxAB reporter gene fusion (N4) was carried out using transposon Tn1721. Two independent Tn1721 insertions were found to be located in a positive regulatory gene (nitR), encoding a protein sharing amino acid sequence similarity with proteins of the ArsR family of regulators. NitR was found to be a regulator of S. meliloti hmgA expression under nitrogen deprivation conditions, suggesting the presence of a ntr-independent nitrogen deprivation regulatory system. nitR insertion mutations were shown not to affect bacterial growth, nodulation of Medicago sativa (alfalfa) plants, or symbiotic nitrogen fixation under the physiological conditions examined. Further analysis of the nitR locus revealed the presence of open reading frames encoding proteins sharing amino acid sequence similarities with an ATP-binding phosphonate transport protein (PhnN), as well as transmembrane efflux proteins.     

The Sinorhizobium meliloti Nutrient-Deprivation-Induced Tyrosine Degradation Gene hmgA Is Controlled by a Novel Member of the arsR Family of Regulatory Genes

The regulation of the nutrient-deprivation-induced Sinorhizobium meliloti homogentisate dioxygenase (hmgA) gene, involved in tyrosine degradation, was examined. hmgA expression was found to be independent of the canonical nitrogen regulation (ntr) system. To identify regulators of hmgA, secondary mutagenesis of an S. meliloti strain harboring a hmgA-luxAB reporter gene fusion (N4) was carried out using transposon Tn1721. Two independent Tn1721 insertions were found to be located in a positive regulatory gene (nitR), encoding a protein sharing amino acid sequence similarity with proteins of the ArsR family of regulators. NitR was found to be a regulator of S. meliloti hmgA expression under nitrogen deprivation conditions, suggesting the presence of a ntr-independent nitrogen deprivation regulatory system. nitR insertion mutations were shown not to affect bacterial growth, nodulation of Medicago sativa (alfalfa) plants, or symbiotic nitrogen fixation under the physiological conditions examined. Further analysis of the nitR locus revealed the presence of open reading frames encoding proteins sharing amino acid sequence similarities with an ATP-binding phosphonate transport protein (PhnN), as well as transmembrane efflux proteins.     

转座子挽救法对苜蓿中华根瘤菌与耐盐有关基因的定位

用含Tn5转座子的质粒pRL1063a诱变苜蓿中华根瘤菌(Sinorhizobium meliloti)042BM,得到盐敏感突变株042BML-2。采用转座子挽救法对Tn5插入位点两边的序列进行克隆与测序,获得了1179bp的转座子插入位点侧翼DNA序列。在GenBank中进行序列同源性和基因定位分析,结果表明：转座子插入在一个功能未知的基因内部,此基因长6270bp。研究证明：该基因与042BM的耐盐性有关,并定名为rtsC。氨基酸疏水性分析表明,在RtsC蛋白的N端有两个跨膜区,该蛋白与细菌趋化性相关蛋白的功能域有同源性。并对RtsC蛋白在苜蓿中华根瘤菌042BM耐盐性中的作用进行了讨论。     

Transposon Tn5 encodes streptomycin resistance in nonenteric bacteria.

Strains of Caulobacter crescentus, Pseudomonas putida, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Rhizobium meliloti, and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides carrying the kanamycin resistance-encoding transposon Tn5 were 15 to 500 times more resistant to streptomycin than transposon-free strains. The streptomycin resistance determinant, which is separable from the kanamycin resistance determinant of Tn5, was not expressed in Escherichia coli or Klebsiella aerogenes.     

Isolation, characterization, and complementation of a paralyzed flagellar mutant of Rhodobacter sphaeroides WS8.

A paralyzed Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutant strain (PARA1) was isolated by a motility screening procedure following mutagenesis of wild-type R. sphaeroides WS8-N with the transposable element TnphoA (Tn5 IS50L::phoA). PARA1 synthesized a wild-type level of flagellin, as detected by Western immunoblotting with antiflagellar antiserum. Flagellar staining showed that flagellin was assembled into apparently normal external flagellar filaments. Electron micrographs of basal body structures from PARA1 showed that some ring structures that were present were similar to those in wild-type R. sphaeroides WS8-N. PARA1 cells were nonmotile under all growth conditions. No pseudorevertants to motility were seen when PARA1 was grown in the presence of kanamycin to select for the presence of the transposon. The presence of the single copy of TnphoA in the PARA1 chromosome was demonstrated by Southern blotting. Western blotting of cytoplasmic, periplasmic, and membrane fractions of PARA1 with anti-alkaline phosphatase antiserum showed that the transposon had been inserted in-frame into a gene encoding a membrane protein. A SalI restriction endonuclease fragment was cloned from the chromosome of PARA1; this fragment contained a portion of the transposon and R. sphaeroides DNA sequence 5' of the site of insertion. This flanking R. sphaeroides DNA sequence was used to probe an R. sphaeroides WS8 cosmid library. A cosmid designated c19 hybridized to the probe, and a SalI restriction endonuclease fragment derived from this cosmid restored wild-type motility to PARA1 when introduced into this mutant strain by conjugation. The significance of this finding in a bacterium with unidirectionally rotating flagella is discussed.     

Toluene transposons Tn4651 and Tn4653 are class II transposons

The toluene degradative transposon Tn4651 is included within another transposon, Tn4653, and both of these elements are members of the Tn3 family. The tnpA gene product of each element mediates formation of cointegrates as intermediate products of transposition, and the tnpS and tnpT gene products encoded by Tn4651 take part in resolution of both Tn4651- and Tn4653-mediated cointegrates. Sequence analysis demonstrated that Tn4651 and Tn4653 have 46- and 38-base-pair terminal inverted repeats, respectively, and that both elements generate 5-base-pair duplication of the target sequence upon transposition. Complementation tests of the Tn4651- and Tn4653-encoded transposition functions with those of Tn3, Tn21, and Tn1721 showed that (i) the trans-acting transposition functions encoded by Tn4651 were not interchangeable with those encoded by the four other transposons, (ii) the Tn4653 tnpA function was interchangeable with the Tn1721 function, and (iii) Tn4653 coded for a resolvase (tnpR gene product) that complemented the tnpR mutations of Tn21 and Tn1721. The Tn4653 tnpR gene was located just 5' upstream of the tnpA gene and shared extensive sequence homology with the Tn1721 tnpR gene. The res region was located adjacent to the tnpR gene, and sequence analysis indicated that failure of the Tn4653 tnpR product to resolve the Tn4653-mediated cointegrates is ascribed to an incomplete structure of the res region.     

Lipopeptide production in Pseudomonas sp. strain DSS73 is regulated by components of sugar beet seed exudate via the Gac two-component regulatory system

Pseudomonas sp. strain DSS73 isolated from the sugar beet rhizosphere produces the cyclic lipopeptide amphisin, which inhibits the growth of plant-pathogenic fungi. By Tn5::luxAB mutagenesis, we obtained two nonproducing mutant strains, DSS73-15C2 and DSS73-12H8. The gene interrupted by the transposon in strain DSS73-15C2 (amsY) encoded a protein with homology to peptide synthetases that was designated amphisin synthetase. DSS73-12H8 carried the transposon in a regulatory gene encoding a protein with homology to the sensor kinase GacS. Growth of strain DSS73-15C2 (amsY) was impaired during the transition to stationary phase in a minimal medium amended with an exudate of sugar beet seeds. This growth phenotype could be complemented by purified amphisin. Seed exudate further induced expression of bioluminescence from the amsY::luxAB reporter during the transition to stationary phase. This agreed with an increase in amphisin production by the DSS73 wild-type strain during early stationary phase. Amphisin synthesis in DSS73 was strictly dependent on GacS, and even induction by seed exudate depended on a functional gacS locus. Hence, a signal triggering the GacS/GacA two-component system appeared to be present in the seed exudate.     

Cloning and characterization of Rhizobium meliloti loci required for symbiotic root nodule invasion

An immunological assay of root nodule polypeptides was used to analyze the nodules induced by 25 symbiotically defective Rhizobium meliloti mutants. Differences in polypeptide accumulation in these nodules were used to divide the mutants into three subsets. One subset, containing two mutant strains, was further analyzed. Nodules induced by these mutant strains lack both infection threads and bacteria. The kinetics of nodule formation by these mutant strains, by an exoB mutant, and by mixed mutant inocula suggest that the gene products required for nodule invasion may also influence nodule meristem induction. One of the two mutants characterized in this study contains a transposon Tn5 insertion in the ndvB locus, which probably results in the loss of beta-glucan synthesis. The second mutant contains a transposon in a previously uncharacterized locus. RNA analysis suggests that the newly identified locus is transcribed in free-living cultures of ndvB and exoB strains, as well as in the parental R. meliloti strain. Southern blot analysis suggests that at least a portion of this locus is duplicated. This duplication may explain the apparently leaky phenotype of the mutant strain.     

Tetracycline resistance transposon Tn1721: recA-dependent gene amplification and expression of tetracycline resistance

The 7.1-megadalton transposon Tn1721 codes for inducible tetracycline resistance (Tcr). The transposable element consists of a "minor transposon" (3.6 megadaltons) encoding functions required for transposition and a "tet region" (3.5 megadaltons) encoding resistance. Multiple tandem repeats of the tet region can be generated by recA-dependent gene amplification. This feature of Tn1721 has been used to analyze the relationship between gene dosage and Tcr. Derivatives of plasmid R388:Tn1721 containing from one to nine copies of the tet region were isolated and separately transformed into recA host cells, where they are stably maintained. The results of the study of Tcr in these strains were as follows: (i) the uninduced, "basal" level of Tcr was linearly related to gene dosage between 4 and 36 copies of tet per chromosome equivalent; (ii) the underlying mechanism could not be attributed to reduced accumulation of the drug; and (iii) induction with tetracycline elicited a four- to fivefold reduction in drug accumulation, independent of the gene dosage.     

Requirement for the enzymes acetoacetyl coenzyme A synthetase and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthase for growth of Sinorhizobium meliloti on PHB cycle intermediates

We have identified two Sinorhizobium meliloti chromosomal loci affecting the poly-3-hydroxybutyrate degradation pathway. One locus was identified as the gene acsA, encoding acetoacetyl coenzyme A (acetoacetyl-CoA) synthetase. Analysis of the acsA nucleotide sequence revealed that this gene encodes a putative protein with a molecular weight of 72,000 that shows similarity to acetyl-CoA synthetase in other organisms. Acetyl-CoA synthetase activity was not affected in cell extracts of glucose-grown acsA::Tn5 mutants; instead, acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase activity was drastically reduced. These findings suggest that acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase, rather than CoA transferase, activates acetoacetate to acetoacetyl-CoA in the S. meliloti poly-3-hydroxybutyrate cycle. The second locus was identified as phbC, encoding poly-3-hydroxybutyrate synthase, and was found to be required for synthesis of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate deposits.     

浑球红细菌谷氨酸合酶基因(glt)的克隆和图谱分析

利用转座子Tn5随机插入诱变筛选得到12株浑球红细菌(Rhodobacter sphaeroides)氨同化缺陷突变株(Asm~-)。这些突变株胞内均无GOGAT活性,同时它们均无固氮酶活性(Nif~-),并且具有氮代谢多效性缺失表型(Ntr~-)。将含有Azorhizobium sesbaniae ORS571的完整glt基因的质粒pHB10转入突变株中能互补上述表型。通过筛选携带Tn5的R-prime质粒克隆了glt::Tn5片段。Southern杂交证明所克隆glt::Tn5片段与E. coli的gltBD基因有同源性。用此片段与以pLAFR3为载体所构建的R. sphaeroides 601基因文库进行菌落原位杂交筛选到了携带glt基因的cosmid pLT27。pLT27能互补所有12株R.sphaeroides氨同化缺陷突变株。酶切分析表明在该cosmid中插人的染色体DNA片段大小约为26.5kb。以pRK415为载体亚克隆了4.0kb与10.5kh的pLT27的Hindlll酶切片段,分别命名为pLTRK271与pLTRK272。pLTRK272能互补变种GT6、GT10、GT11,pLTRK…     

Isolation and characterization of transposon Tn5 mutants of Rhodobacter sphaeroides deficient in both nitrate and chlorate reduction.

Abstract The wild-type strain Rhodobacter sphaeroides DSM 158 is a nitrate-reducing bacterium with a periplasmic nitrate reductase. Addition of chlorate to the culture medium causes a stimulation of the phototrophic growth, indicating that this strain is able to use chlorate as an ancillary oxidant. Several mutant strains of R. sphaeroides deficient in nitrate reductase activity were obtained by transposon Tn5 mutagenesis. Mutant strain NR45 exhibited high constitutive nitrate and chlorate reductase activities and phototrophic growth was also increased by the presence of chlorate. In contrast, the stimulation of growth by chlorate was not observed in mutant strains NR8 and NR13, in which transposon Tn5 insertion causes the simultaneous loss of both nitrate and chlorate reductase activities. Tn5 insertion probably does not affect molybdenum metabolism since NR8 and NR13 mutants exhibit both xanthine dehydrogenase and nitrogenase activities. These results that a single enzyme could reduce both nitrate and chlorate in R. sphaeroides DSM 158.     

New transposons to generate GFP protein fusions in Candida albicans

Transposon elements are important tools for gene function analysis, for example they can be used to easily create genome-wide collections of insertion mutants. Transposons may also carry sequences coding for an epitope or fluorescent marker useful for protein expression and localization analysis. We have developed three new Tn5-based transposons that incorporate a GFP (green fluorescent protein) coding sequence to generate fusion proteins in the important fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Each transposon also contains the URA3 and Kan(R) genes for yeast and bacterial selection, respectively. After in vitro transposition, the insertional allele is transferred to the chromosomal locus by homologous recombination. Transposons Tn5-CaGFP and Tn5-CaGFP-URA3::FLIP can generate C-terminal truncated GFP fusions. A URA3 flipper recycling cassette was incorporated into the transposon Tn5-CaGFP-URA3::FLIP. After the induction of Flip recombinase to excise the marker, the heterozygous strain is transformed again in order to obtain a GFP-tagged homozygous strains. In the Tn5-CaGFP-FL transposon the markers are flanked by a rare-cutting enzyme. After in vitro transposition into a plasmid-borne target gene, the markers are eliminated by restriction digestion and religation, resulting in a construct coding for full-length GFP-fusion proteins. This transposon can generate plasmid libraries of GFP insertions in proteins where N- or C-terminal tagging may alter localization. We tested our transposon system by mutagenizing the essential septin CDC3 gene. The results indicate that the Cdc3 C-terminal extension is important for correct septin filament assembly. The transposons described here provide a new system to obtain global gene expression and protein localization data in C. albicans.     

Glutathione is involved in environmental stress responses in Rhizobium tropici, including acid tolerance

The isolation of rhizobial strains which exhibit an intrinsic tolerance to acidic conditions has been reported and has facilitated studies on the basic mechanisms underlying acid tolerance. Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT899 displays a high intrinsic tolerance to acidity and therefore was used in this work to study the molecular basis of bacterial responses to acid conditions and other environmental stresses. We generated a collection of R. tropici CIAT899 mutants affected in acid tolerance using Tn5-luxAB mutagenesis, and one mutant strain (CIAT899-13T2), which fails to grow under acid conditions, was characterized in detail. Strain CIAT899-13T2 was found to contain a single Tn5-luxAB insertion in a gene showing a high degree of similarity with the Escherichia coli gshB gene, encoding the enzyme glutathione synthetase. Intracellular potassium pools and intracellular pH levels were found to be lower in the mutant than in the parent. The glutathione-deficient mutant was shown to be sensitive to weak organic acids, osmotic and oxidative stresses, and the presence of methylglyoxal. Glutathione restores responses to these stresses almost to wild-type levels. Our data show that in R. tropici the production of glutathione is essential for growth in extreme environmental conditions. The mutant strain CIAT899-13T2 induced effective nodules; however, it was found to be outcompeted by the wild-type strain in coinoculation experiments.     

TolC mutant of Sinorhizobium meliloti strain SKHM1-188 fails to establish effective symbiosis with alfalfa

The TolC mutant Tr63 of Sinorhizobium meliloti was generated by random Tn5 mutagenesis in the effective strain SKhM1-188. The mutant did not produce fluorescent halos in UV light on the LB medium containing calcofluor white, which suggests that modification occurred in the production of exopolysaccharide EPS1. Mutant Tr63 also manifested nonmucoidness both on minimal and low-phosphate MOPS media, and this was most likely connected with the absence of the second exopolysaccharide of S. meliloti (EPS2). The mutant was defective in symbiosis with alfalfa and formed on roots of host plants Medicago sativa and M. truncatula white round Fix- nodules or nodules of irregular shape. These nodules possessed the structure usually described for nodules of EPS1 mutants. According to the data of sequencing a DNA fragment of the mutant adjacent to the transposon, Tr63 contained a Tn5 insertion in gene SMc02082 located on the S. meliloti chromosome. This gene encodes the protein sharing homology with the TolC protein, a component of a type I secretion system responsible for the export of protein toxins and proteases in Gram-negative bacteria. The presence of proteins ExsH (endoglycanase of EPS1) and protein ExpE1 (essential for excretion of EPS2), which are known to be exported by the type I secretion system, was tested in cultural supernatants of mutant Tr63 and the parental strain by polyclonal antiserum analysis. It was ascertained that secretory proteins ExsH and ExpE1 are absent in the culture medium of mutant Tr63. The TolC protein of S. meliloti is assumed to be involved in the excretion of proteins ExsH and ExpE1.