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Cloning and Identification of lpsH, a Novel Gene Playing a Fundamental Role in Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation of Mesorhizobium huakuii

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Abstract

Mesorhizobium huakuii 7653R forms a symbiotic relationship with Astragalus sinicus to produce nitrogen-fixing root nodules under nitrogen-limiting conditions. By screening its transposon-inserted mutant library, a mutation in the lpsH gene was found to form pseudonodules on A. sinicus. Its effect was further confirmed by double-crossover mutant HK242. DNA sequence analysis revealed that the lpsH gene encodes a deduced protein of 397 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 43.6 kD. LpsH contains a putative signal peptide, 11 transmembrane helices, and an O-antigen polymerase domain, which locates on the periplasmic membrane and is necessary to lipopolysaccharide synthesis. Plant studies showed that the lpsH gene mutant formed ineffective nodules, and this symbiotic phenotype was linked to abnormal nodule development.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30270052); The Ministry of Science and Technology of China Microbial Resources (Project 2005DKA21208-6); and Hubei Technologies (R & D Programme 2006AA201B33). We are grateful to Hu Yuanyang for supporting the microscopic studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China

    Guojun Cheng, Youguo Li, Bo Xie, Chengyun Yang & Junchu Zhou

  2. College of Life Science, South-Central University for Nationalities, 430074, Wuhan, China

    Guojun Cheng

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  1. Guojun Cheng
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  2. Youguo Li
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  3. Bo Xie
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  4. Chengyun Yang
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  5. Junchu Zhou
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Correspondence to Junchu Zhou.

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Cheng, G., Li, Y., Xie, B. et al. Cloning and Identification of lpsH, a Novel Gene Playing a Fundamental Role in Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation of Mesorhizobium huakuii . Curr Microbiol 54, 371–375 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0471-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0471-1

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