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The regulation of HanA during heterocyst development in cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120

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Abstract

In response to deprivation of combined nitrogen, the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 develops heterocyst, which is specifically involved in the nitrogen fixation. In this study, we focused on the regulation of HanA, a histone-like protein, in heterocyst development. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay results showed that NtcA, a global nitrogen regulator necessary for heterocyst differentiation, could bind to two NtcA-binding motifs in the hanA promoter region. qPCR results also showed that NtcA may regulate the expression of hanA. By using the hanA promoter-controlled gfp as a reporter gene and performing western blot we found that the amount of HanA in mature heterocysts was decreased gradually.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, and the Natural Science Foundation of Nantong University (Grant No. 11Z034).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Jing-jing Lu, Wen-li Chen & Li Wang

  2. Surgical Comprehensive Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, China

    Jing-jing Lu

  3. INRA, UMR1319 Micalis, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France

    Lei Shi

Authors
  1. Jing-jing Lu
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  2. Lei Shi
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  3. Wen-li Chen
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  4. Li Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Li Wang.

Additional information

Jing-jing Lu and Lei Shi have contributed to this work equally.

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Lu, Jj., Shi, L., Chen, Wl. et al. The regulation of HanA during heterocyst development in cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 30, 2673–2680 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1691-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1691-3

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