Summary
We report that in DNA from one Frankia sp. strain at least some of the nif genes are located on a large indigenous plasmid of 190 kb. Using the cloned nitrogenase structural genes from Klebsiella pneumoniae as hybridization probes, homology was detected with a 5.6 kb EcoRI fragment from the Frankia sp. plasmid. This 5.6 kb fragment was cloned; used as a probe it hybridized to the nif K, D and H genes from Rhizobium meliloti and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The nif probes also hybridized on total DNA blots to a 10 kb EcoRI fragment that is not present on plasmid DNA, suggesting that the nif genes could be located on more than one replicon.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akkermans ADL, Houwers A (1979) symbiotic nitrogen-fixers for use in temperate forestry. In: Gordon JC, Wheeler CT, Perry DA (eds) Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, pp 23–27
An CS, Riggsby WS, Mullin BC (1985) Relationships of Frankia isolates based on deoxyribonucleic acid homologies studies. Int J Syst Bacteriol 35:140–146
Barbour WM, Mathis JN, Elkan OH (1985) Evidence for plasmid- and chromosome-borne multiple nif genes in Rhizobium fredii. Appl Environ Microbiol 50:41–44
Birnboim HC, Doly J (1979) A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res 7:1513–1523
Cannon FC, Riedel GE, Ausubel FM (1979) Overlapping sequences of Klebsiella pneumoniae nif DNA cloned and characterised. Mol Gen Genet 174:59–66
Denhardt DT (1966) A membrane filter technique for the detection of complementary DNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 23:641–646
Derylo M, Glowacka M, Skorupska A, Lavrkiewicz Z (1981) Nif plasmid from Lignobacter. Arch Microbiol 130:322–324
Holmes DS, Quigley M (1981) A rapid boiling method for the preparation of bacterial plasmids. Anal Biochem 114:551–559
Maniatis T, Fritsch EF, Sambrook J (1982) Molecular cloning: A laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Miller JM (1972) Experiments in molecular genetics. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Murray NE, Brammer WJ, Murray K (1977) Lambdoid phages that simplifly the recovery of in vitro recombinants. Mol Gen Genet 150:53–61
Normand P, Lalonde M (1982) Evaluation of Frankia strains isolated from provenances of two Alnus species. Can J Microbiol 28:1133–1142
Normand P, Simonet P, Butour JL, Rosenberg C, Moiroud A, Lalonde M (1983) Plasmids in Frankia sp. J Bacteriol 155:32–35
Normand P, Lalonde M (1986) The genetics of actinorhizal Frankia: a review. Plant and Soil, in press
Quinto C, Vega de la H, Flores M, Fernandez L, Ballado T, Soberon G, Palacios R (1982) Reiteration of nitrogen fixation gene sequences in Rhizobium phaseoli. Nature 299:724–726
Rigby PWJ, Dieckmann M, Rhodes D, Berg P (1977) Labelling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase. J Mol Biol 113:237–251
Robson R, Kennedy C, Postgate J (1983) Progress in comparative genetics of nitrogen fixation. Can J Microbiol 29:954–967
Rosenberg C, Boistard P, Dénarié J, Casse-Delbart F (1981) Genes controlling early and late functions in symbiosis are located on a large plasmid in Rhizobium meliloti. Mol Gen Genet 184:326–333
Ruvkun GB, Ausubel FM (1980) Interspecies homology of nitrogenase genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:191–194
Ruvkun GB, Sundaresan V, Ausubel FM (1982) Directed transposon Tn5 mutagenesis and complementation analysis of Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes. Cell 29:551–559
Simonet P, Capellano A, Navarro E, Bardin R, Moiroud A (1984) An improved method for lysis of Frankia with achromopeptidase allows detection of new plasmids. Can J Microbiol 30:1292–1295
Simonet P, Normand P, Moiroud A, Lalonde M (1985) Restriction enzyme digestion patterns of Frankia plasmids. Plant and Soil 87:49–60
Singh M, Kleeberger A, Klingmuller W (1983) Location of nitrogen fixation (nif) genes on indigenous plasmids of Enterobacter agglomerans. Mol Gen Genet 190:373–378
Southern EM (1975) Detection of specific sequences among fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol 98:503–517
Tautz D, Renz M (1983) An optimized freeze-sqeeze method for the recovery of DNA fragments from agarose gels. Anal Biochem 132:14–19
Whal GM, Stern M, Stark GR (1979) Efficient transfer of large DNA fragments from agarose gels to diazobenzyloxymethyl paper and rapid hybridisation by using dextran sulfate. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:3683–3687
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. Schell
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simonet, P., Haurat, J., Normand, P. et al. Localization of nif genes on a large plasmid in Frankia sp. strain ULQ0132105009. Molec Gen Genet 204, 492–495 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331030
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331030