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Characterization of the orf1glnKamtB operon of Herbaspirillum seropedicae

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Abstract

Herbaspirillum seropedicae is an endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacterium that colonizes economically important grasses. In this organism, the amtB gene is co-transcribed with two other genes: glnK that codes for a PII-like protein and orf1 that codes for a probable periplasmatic protein of unknown function. The expression of the orf1glnKamtB operon is increased under nitrogen-limiting conditions and is dependent on NtrC. An amtB mutant failed to transport methylammonium. Post-translational control of nitrogenase was also partially impaired in this mutant, since a complete switch-off of nitrogenase after ammonium addition was not observed. This result suggests that the AmtB protein is involved in the signaling pathway for the reversible inactivation of nitrogenase in H. seropedicae.

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Abbreviations

NP:

o-nitrophenol

ApR :

Ampicillin resistance

CmR :

Chloramphenicol resistance

KmR :

Kanamycin resistance

TcR :

Tetracycline resistance

SmR :

Streptomycin resistance

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Luciano F. Huergo for the A. brasilense amtB fragment used in this work and Roseli Prado and Julieta Pie for technical assistance. We thank the Paraná State Genome Project Consortium (GENOPAR) for the plasmid HS03FP06E09. We also thank Geoffrey Yates for the criticism in reading the manuscript. This work was financially supported by PRONEX (FINEP/MCT/CNPq), CAPES, CNPq, Fundação Araucária, and Paraná Tecnologia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, CP 19046, 81531-990, Curitiba, Brazil

    Lilian Noindorf, Fabiane G. M. Rego, Valter A. Baura, Rose A. Monteiro, Leonardo M. Cruz, Liu U. Rigo, Emanuel M. Souza, Maria B. R. Steffens, Fabio O. Pedrosa & Leda S. Chubatsu

  2. Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná, CP 19071, 81531-990, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Roseli Wassem

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  1. Lilian Noindorf
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  2. Fabiane G. M. Rego
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Correspondence to Leda S. Chubatsu.

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Noindorf, L., Rego, F.G.M., Baura, V.A. et al. Characterization of the orf1glnKamtB operon of Herbaspirillum seropedicae . Arch Microbiol 185, 55–62 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0066-4

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