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Sucrose synthase and RuBisCo expression is similarly regulated by the nitrogen source in the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena sp.

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Abstract

In higher plants and cyanobacteria, sucrose (Suc) metabolism is carried out by a similar set of enzymes. The function and regulation of Suc metabolism in cyanobacteria has begun to be elucidated. In strains of Anabaena sp., filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, Suc synthase (SuS, EC 2.4.1.13) controls Suc cell level through the cleavage of the disaccharide. The present work shows that there are two sus genes in Anabaena (Nostoc) sp. that are co-regulated regarding the nitrogen source; however, only susA accounts for the extractable SuS activity and for the control of the Suc level. Primer extension analysis has uncovered the sequence of the Anabaena susA and susB ammonium-activated putative promoters, which share a high sequence similarity with that of rbcLS encoding ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) and other ammonium up-regulated genes. Moreover, susA and rbcLS expression is developmentally co-localized to the vegetative cells of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterial filaments. Our results strongly suggest the existence of a regulatory network that would coordinate the expression of key genes for Suc and nitrogen metabolism, carbon fixation, and development in Anabaena sp.

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Abbreviations

Chl:

Chlorophyll

gfp :

Green fluorescent protein gene

rbcLS :

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase gene

RuBisCO:

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

sus :

Sucrose synthase gene

Suc:

Sucrose

SusB:

Gene product of susB

SuS:

Sucrose synthase

tsp:

Transcription start point

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants of ANPCyT (PICT 12233), CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and FIBA. We are grateful to J. Golden for facilitating the vectors pAM505 and pKEN-GFPmut2 and the Anabaena sp. strain AMC486, and to H. Pontis and our colleagues at the CIB-FIBA for many helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Fundación para Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (FIBA), CC 1348, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Leonardo Curatti, Laura Giarrocco & Graciela L. Salerno

  2. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3102, USA

    Leonardo Curatti

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  1. Leonardo Curatti
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  2. Laura Giarrocco
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  3. Graciela L. Salerno
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Correspondence to Graciela L. Salerno.

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Curatti, L., Giarrocco, L. & Salerno, G.L. Sucrose synthase and RuBisCo expression is similarly regulated by the nitrogen source in the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena sp.. Planta 223, 891–900 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-005-0142-7

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