Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Temperature control of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae

  • Published:
Archives of Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

At growth temperatures above 37°C, Klebsiella pneumoniae does not grow in a medium containing N2 or NO -3 as nitrogen sources. However, both the growth in the presence of other nitrogen sources as well as the in vitro nitrogenase activity are not affected at this temperature. The inability to fix N2 at high temperature is due to the failure of the cells to synthesize nitrogenase and other nitrogen fixation (nif) gene encoded proteins. When cells grown under nitrogen fixing conditions at 30°C were shifted to 39°C, there was a rapid decrease of the rate of de novo biosynthesis of nitrogenase (component 1), nitrogenase reductase (component 2), and the nifJ gene product. There was no degradation of nitrogenase at the elevated temperature since preformed enzyme remained stable over a period of at least 3 h at 39°C. Thus, temperature seems to represent a third control system, besides NH +4 and O2, governing the expression of nif genes of K. pneumoniae.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bergersen, F. J., Hipsley, E. H.: The presence of N2-fixing bacteria in the intestines of man and animals. J. Gen. Microbiol 60, 61–65 (1970)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, R. C.: The nitrogenase system from Azotobacter: Activation energy and divalent cation requirement. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 171, 253–259 (1969)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, R. C., Hardy, R. W. F.: Nitrogen fixation in bacteria and higher plants. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer 1975

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. H., Garvey, J. S., Cremer, N. E., Sussdorf, D. H.: Methods in Immunology, 2nd ed New York: W. A. Benjamin, Inc. (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, R., Cannon, F., Kondorosi, A.: Construction of a P plasmid carrying nitrogen fixation genes from Klebsiella pneumoniae. Nature 260, 268–271 (1976)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eady, R. R., Issack, R., Kennedy, C., Postgate, J. R., Ratcliffe, H. D.: Nitrogenase synthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae: Comparison of ammonium and oxygen regulation. J. Gen. Microbiol. 104, 277–285 (1978)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eady, R. R., Smith, B. E., Cook, K. A., Postgate, J. R.: Nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae: Purification and properties of the component proteins. Biochem. J. 128, 655–675 (1972)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elmerich, C., Houmard, J., Sibold, L., Manbeimer, I., Charpin, N.: Genetic and biochemical analysis of mutants induced by bacteriophage Mu DNA integration in Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogen fixation genes. Molec. Gen. Genet. 165, 181–189 (1978)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield, K. L., Bulen, W. A.: Adenosine triphosphate requirement of nitrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii. Biochemistry 8, 5103–5108 (1969)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hageman, R. V., Burris, R. H.: Nitrogenase and nitrogenase reductase associate and dissociate with each cycle. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 2699–2702 (1978)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C., Eady, R. R., Kondorosi, E., Klavans-Rekosh, D.: The molybdenum-iron protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae: Evidence for non-identical subunits from peptide mapping. Biochem. J. 155, 383–389 (1976)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C., Postgate, J. R.: Expression of Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogen fixation genes in nitrate reductase mutants of Escherichia coli. J. Gen. Microbiol. 98, 551–557 (1977)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laemmli, U. K.: Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227, 680–685 (1970)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L., Randall, R. J.: Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem. 193, 265–275 (1951)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Merrick, M., Filser, M., Kennedy, C., Dixon, R.: Polarity of mutations induced by insertion of transposons Tn5, Tn7, and Tn10 into the nif gene cluster of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Molec. Gen. Genet. 165, 103–111 (1978)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. H.: Experiments in molecular genetics. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1972

  • Pengra, R. M., Wilson, P. W.: Physiology of nitrogen fixation by Aerobacter aerogenes. J. Bacteriol. 75, 21–25 (1958)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Postgate, J.: Prerequisites for biological nitrogen fixation in free-living heterotrophic bacteria. In: The Biology of nitrogen fixation (Quispel, A., ed.), pp. 663–686 Amsterdam-Oxford: North-Holland Publishing Company 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, G. P., MacNeil, T., MacNeil, D., Brill, W. J.: Regulation and characterization of protein products coded by the nif (nitrogen fixation) genes of Klebsiella pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 136, 267–279 (1978)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam, K. T., Chan, I., Morandi, C.: Regulation of nitrogen fixation: Nitrogenase derepressed mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 408, 101–111 (1975)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam, K. T., Hennecke, H.: Microbial genetics and nitrogen fixation. In: Recent Advances in Biological Nitrogen Fixation (N. S. Subba Rao, ed.). Oxford-New Delhi: Oxford Intl. Book House (in press, 1979)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam, K. T., Loo, A. S., Valentine, R. C.: Deletion mutants of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae: Mapping of a cluster of nif genes essential for nitrogenase activity. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 338, 545–553 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam, K. T., Morandi, C.: Amino acids as repressors of nitrogenase biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 437, 322–332 (1976)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shanmugam, K. T., Valentine, R. C.: Molecular biology of nitrogen fixation. Science 197, 919–924 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • St. John, R. T., Shah, V. K., Brill, W. J.: Regulation of nitrogenase synthesis by oxygen in Klebsiella pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 119, 266–269 (1974)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Streicher, S., Gurney, E., Valentine, R. C.: Transduction of the nitrogen-fixation genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 68, 1174–1177 (1971)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Streicher, S. L., Shanmugam, K. T., Ausubel, F., Morandi, C., Goldberg, R.: Regulation of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae: Evidence for a role of glutamine synthetase as a regulator of nitrogenase synthesis. J. Bacteriol. 120, 815–821 (1974)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Studier, F. W.: Analysis of bacteriophage T7 early RNAs and proteins on slab gels. J. Mol. Biol. 79, 237–248 (1973)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tubb, R. S.: Glutamine synthetase and ammonium regulation of nitrogenase synthesis in Klensiella. Nature 251, 481–485 (1974)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tubb, R. S., Postgate, J. R.: Control of nitrogenase synthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae. J. Gen. Microbiol. 79, 103–117 (1973)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Growth Laboratory, University of California, 95616, Davis, California, USA

    H. Hennecke & K. T. Shanmugam

  2. Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, 95616, Davis, California, USA

    H. Hennecke & K. T. Shanmugam

Authors
  1. H. Hennecke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. T. Shanmugam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hennecke, H., Shanmugam, K.T. Temperature control of nitrogen fixation in Klebsiella pneumoniae . Arch. Microbiol. 123, 259–265 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406659

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406659

Key words

Search

Navigation