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Molecular cloning of thentrA gene of the broad host-rangeRhizobium sp. NGR234, and phenotypes of a site-directed mutant

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Summary

The clonedntrA (rpoN) gene andntrA mutants ofRhizobium meliloti were used to isolate the homologous gene from the broad-host rangeRhizobium sp. NGR234 by hybridization and interspecies complementation. The NGR234 locus was analyzed by deletion and insertional mutagenesis. A site-directedntrA mutant, NGR234rn1, was made with an interposon, GmI, and its phenotype was examined ex planta and in symbiosis. NGR234rn1 formed Fix nodules on six genera tested from among its legume hosts, including both indeterminate and determinate nodule-type plants. Formation of nodules onMacroptilium was delayed, and expression of anR. meliloti nodABC-lacZ fusion was reduced by the mutant allele.

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Abbreviations

NTRA, NTRC, NIFA:

protein products ofntrA,ntrC,nifA genes

Tc:

tetracycline

Nm:

neomycin

Rif:

ritampicin

Gm:

gentamicin

Sp:

spectinomycin

Km:

kanamycin

Cm:

chloramphenicol

Ap:

ampicillin

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Communicated by H. Hennecke

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Stanley, J., van Slooten, J., Dowling, D.N. et al. Molecular cloning of thentrA gene of the broad host-rangeRhizobium sp. NGR234, and phenotypes of a site-directed mutant. Molec. Gen. Genet. 217, 528–532 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464927

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464927

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