Skip to main content
Log in

Regulation of expression of nif and hut operons in Klebsiella pneumoniae by glnA linked genes of Escherichia coli

  • Published:
Molecular and General Genetics MGG Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Recombinant DNA plasmids containing inserts from the glnA region of Escherichia coli were used to study the expression of gln, hut, and nif operons in a regulation defective mutant (GlnHutNif) of Klebsiella pneumoniae, KP5060. Genes adjacent to the C-terminal end of glnA on the E. coli chromosome were able to derepress hut and nif operons in K. pneumoniae in the absence of glnA product. However, complete derepression of nif operons required inclusion of the segment adjacent to the N-terminal end of the glnA region of the E. coli chromosome along with the C-terminal end segment. In the absence of functional glnA, such a fully derepressed strain expressed nif and hut constitutively indicating a role for the catalytic activity of glutamine synthetase in repression of the genes under nitrogen control.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Backman K, Chen YM, Magasanik B (1981) Physical and genetic characterisation of the glnA-glnG region of the Escherichia coli chromosme. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 78:3743–3747

    Google Scholar 

  • Bender RA, Magasanik B (1977) Autogenous regulation of the synthesis of glutamine synthetase in Klebsiella aerogenes. J Bacteriol 132:106–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruijn FJ, Ausubel FM (1981) The cloning and transposon Tn5 mutagenesis of glnA region of Klebsiella pneumoniae: identification of glnR, a gene involved in the regulation of the nif and hut operons. Mol Gen Genet 183:289–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanon-Wollaston V, Cannon MC, Beynon JL, Cannon FC (1981) Role of the nifA gene product in the regulation of nif expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Nature 294:776–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon FC, Riedel GE, Ausubel FM (1977) Recombinant plasmid that carries part of the nitrogen fixation gene cluster of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74:2963–2967

    Google Scholar 

  • Covarrubias L, Rocha M, Bolivar F, Bastarrachea F (1980) Cloning and physical mapping of the glnA gene of Escherichia coli K-12. Gene 11:239–251

    Google Scholar 

  • David KAV, Apte SK, Banerji A, Thomas J (1980) Acetylene reduction assay for nitrogenase activity: gas chromatographic determination of ethylene per sample in less than one minute. Appl Environ Microbiol 39:1078–1080

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R, Tuli R, Haselkorn R (1981) A cloned cyanobacterial gene for glutamine synthetase functions in E. coli, but the enzyme is not adenylylated. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 78:3393–3397

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaluza K, Hennecke H (1981) Regulation of nitrogenase messenger RNA synthesis and stability in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Arch Microbiol 130:38–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Kustu S, Burton D, Garcia E, McCarter L, McFarland N (1979) Nitrogen control in Salmonella: regulation by the glnR and glnF gene products. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:4576–4580

    Google Scholar 

  • Magasanik B, Lund P, Neidhardt FC, Schwartz DT (1965) Induction and repression of the histidine degrading enzymes in Aerobacter aerogenes. J Biol Chem 240:4320–4324

    Google Scholar 

  • Magasanik B, Prival MJ, Brenchley JE, Tyler BM, DeLeo AB, Streicher SL, Bender RA, Paris CG (1974) Glutamine synthetase as a regulator of enzyme synthesis. Curr Top Cell Regul 8:119–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Magasanik B, Rothstein DM (1980) The role of glutamine synthetase in the regulation of bacterial nitrogen metabolism. In: Mora J, Palacios R (eds) Glutamine: Metabolism, enzymology and regulation. Academic Press, New York, p 61

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarland N, Mc Carter L, Artz S, Kustu S (1981) Nitrogen regulatory locus “glnR” of enteric bacteria is composed of cistrons ntrB and ntrC: identification of their protein products. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 78:2135–2139

    Google Scholar 

  • Pahel G, Tyler B (1979) A new glnA-linked regulatory gene for glutamine synthetase in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:4544–4548

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein DM, Pahel G, Tyler B, Magasanik B (1980) Regulation of expression from the glnA promoter of Escherichia coli in the absence of glutamine synthetase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:7372–7376

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam KT, Loo AS, Valentine RC (1974) Deletion mutants of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae: mapping of a cluster of nif genes essential for nitrogenase activity. Biochim Biophys Acta 338:545–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam KT, Chan I, Morandi C (1975) Regulation of nitrogen fixation. Nitrogenase derepressed mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Biochim Biophys Acta 408:101–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Streicher SL, Shanmugam KT, Ausubel FM, Morandi C, Goldberg RB (1974) Regulation of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Evidence for glutamine synthetase as a regulator of nitrogenase synthesis. J Bacteriol 120:815–821

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuli R, Thomas J (1981) Recombinant DNA analysis have enabled the indentification of a regulatory gene for the enzymes of nitrogen metabolism in Klebsiella pneumoniae. In: Proceedings of Society of Biological Chemists (India), 50th Annual Meeting, Univ of Baroda, Baroda, India, p 181

  • Tyler B (1978) Regulation of the assimilation of nitrogen compounds. Annu Rev Biochem 47:1127–1162

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei GR, Kustu S (1981) Glutamine auxotrophs with mutations in a nitrogen regulatory gene, ntrC, that is near glnA. Mol Gen Genet 183:392–399

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Communicated by D. Sherratt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tuli, R., Iyer, R.K. & Thomas, J. Regulation of expression of nif and hut operons in Klebsiella pneumoniae by glnA linked genes of Escherichia coli . Molec Gen Genet 187, 342–346 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331141

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331141

Keywords

Navigation