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Nodule initiation elicited by noninfective mutants of Rhizobium phaseoli.

Rhizobium phaseoli CE106, CE110, and CE115, originally derived by transposon mutagenesis (Noel et al., J. Bacteriol. 158:149-155, 1984), induced the formation of uninfected root nodule-like swellings on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Bacteria densely colonized the root surface, and root hair curling and initiation of root cortical-cell divisions occurred normally in mutant-inoculated seedlings, although no infection threads formed. The nodules were ineffective, lacked leghemoglobin, and were anatomically distinct from normal nodules. Ultrastructural specialization for ureide synthesis, characteristic of legumes that form determinate nodules, was absent. Colony morphology of the mutant strains on agar plates was less mucoid than that of the wild type, and under some cultural conditions, the mutants did not react with Cellufluor, a fluorescent stain for beta-linked polysaccharide. These observations suggest that the genetic lesions in these mutants may be related to extracellular polysaccharide synthesis.

Mutation↗

Characterization of a Rhizobium meliloti fixation gene (fixF) located near the common nodulation region.

Rhizobium meliloti 2011 DNA from pRmSL26, a plasmid which is known to carry genes involved in the early stages of nodulation, was used to construct Tn5 mutations by site-directed Tn5 mutagenesis. Tn5 mutations located within an 8.7 kilobase EcoRI fragment defined two adjacent loci encoding functions for nodulation (nod) and symbiotic N2 fixation (fix). We investigated the organization and regulation of the fix locus and the characteristics of alfalfa nodules induced by these Fix- mutants. By monitoring expression in Escherichia coli minicells, we determined that the fix locus encoded a 36-kilodalton polypeptide. The gene corresponding to this locus was designated fixF. Morphological and ultrastructural studies of the ineffective nodules formed by R. meliloti fixF mutants showed infected host cells similar to those of the wild type. The ineffective nodules were able to accumulate leghemoglobin, but at lower levels than those found in the wild-type nodules. Expression of the nifHDK operon was unaffected by Tn5 insertions in the fixF gene. Expression of the fixF gene was monitored in E. coli by using translational lacZ fusions. It was shown that transcription of the fixF gene in E. coli could be activated by Klebsiella pneumoniae nifA and the R. meliloti nifA-like regulatory gene products. Expression of the fixF gene was also studied in free-living and symbiotic R. meliloti cells. It was found that the fixF gene was transcribed in the symbiotic state.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Genetic locus in Rhizobium japonicum (fredii) affecting soybean root nodule differentiation.

A genetic locus in fast-growing Rhizobium japonicum (fredii) USDA 191 (Fix+ on several contemporary soybean cultivars) was identified by random Tn5 mutagenesis as affecting the development and differentiation of root nodules. This mutant (MU042) is prototrophic and shows no apparent alterations in its surface properties. It induces aberrant nodules, arrested at the same early level of differentiation, on all its host plants. An 8.1-kilobase EcoRI fragment containing Tn5 was cloned from MU042. In USDA 191 as well as another fast-growing strain, USDA 201, the affected locus was found to be unlinked to the large symbiotic plasmid and appears to be chromosomal. An analogous sequence has been shown to be present in Bradyrhizobium japonicum (J. Stanley, G.G. Brown, and D.P.S. Verma, J. Bacteriol. 163:148-154, 1985) as well as in R. trifolii and R. meliloti. MU042 was complemented for effective nodulation of soybean by a cosmid clone from USDA 201, and the complementing locus was delimited to a 6-kilobase EcoRI subfragment. An R. trifolii strain (MU225), whose indigenous symbiotic plasmid was replaced by that of strain USDA 191, induced more highly differentiated nodules on soybean than did MU042. This suggests that the mutation in MU042 can be functionally substituted by similar loci of other fast-growing rhizobia. Leghemoglobin and nodulin-35 (uricase II) were present in the differentiated Fix- nodules induced by MU225, whereas both were absent in MU042-induced pseudonodule structures.

Cell Differentiation↗

Characterization of a Bradyrhizobium japonicum ferrochelatase mutant and isolation of the hemH gene.

A Tn5-induced mutant of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, strain LORBF1, was isolated on the basis of the formation of fluorescent colonies, and stable derivatives were constructed in backgrounds of strains LO and I110. The stable mutant strains LOek4 and I110ek4 were strictly dependent upon the addition of exogenous hemin for growth in liquid culture and formed fluorescent colonies. The fluorescent compound was identified as protoporphyrin IX, the immediate precursor of protoheme. Cell extracts of strains LOek4 and I110ek4 were deficient in ferrochelatase activity, the enzyme which catalyzes the incorporation of ferrous iron into protoporphyrin IX to produce protoheme. Mutant strain I110ek4 could take up 55Fe from the growth medium, but, unlike the parent strain, no significant incorporation of radiolabel into heme was found. This observation shows that heme was not synthesized in mutant strain I110ek4 and that the heme found in those cells was derived from exogenous hemin in the growth medium. The putative protein encoded by the gene disrupted in strain LORBF1 and its derivatives was homologous to ferrochelatases from eukaryotic organisms. This homology, along with the described mutant phenotype, provides strong evidence that the disrupted gene is hemH, that which encodes ferrochelatase. Mutant strain I110ek4 incited nodules on soybean that did not fix nitrogen, contained few viable bacteria, and did not express leghemoglobin heme or apoprotein. The data show that B. japonicum ferrochelatase is essential for normal nodule development.

5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase↗

Augmented rates of respiration and efficient nitrogen fixation at nanomolar concentrations of dissolved O2 in hyperinduced Azoarcus sp. strain BH72.

Azoarcus sp. strain BH72 is an aerobic diazotrophic bacterium that was originally found as an endophyte in Kallar grass. Anticipating that these bacteria are exposed to dissolved O2 concentrations (DOCs) in the nanomolar range during their life cycle, we studied the impact of increasing O2 deprivation on N2 fixation and respiration. Bacteria were grown in batch cultures, where they shifted into conditions of low pO2 upon depletion of O2 by respiration. During incubation, specific rates of respiration (qO2) and efficiencies of carbon source utilization for N2 reduction increased greatly, while the growth rate did not change significantly, a phenomenon that we called "hyperinduction." To evaluate this transition from high- to low-cost N2 fixation in terms of respiratory kinetics and nitrogenase activities at nanomolar DOC, bacteria which had shifted to different gas-phase pO2s in batch cultures were subjected to assays using leghemoglobin as the O2 carrier. As O2 deprivation in batch cultures proceeded, respiratory Km (O2) decreased and Vmax increased. Nitrogenase activity at nanomolar DOC increased to a specific rate of 180 nmol of C2H4 min-1 mg of protein-1 at 32 nM O2. Nitrogenase activity was proportional to respiration but not to DOC in the range of 12 to 86 nM O2. Respiration supported N2 fixation more efficiently at high than at low respiratory rates, the respiratory efficiency increasing from 0.14 to 0.47 mol of C2H4 mol of O2 consumed-1. We conclude that (i) during hyperinduction, strain BH72 used an increasing amount of energy generated by respiration for N2 fixation, and (ii) these bacteria have a high respiratory capacity, enabling them to develop ecological niches at very low pO2, in which they may respire actively and fix nitrogen efficiently at comparatively high rates.

Cell Division↗

A high-affinity cbb3-type cytochrome oxidase terminates the symbiosis-specific respiratory chain of Bradyrhizobium japonicum.

It has been a long-standing hypothesis that the endosymbiotic rhizobia (bacteroids) cope with a concentration of 10 to 20 nM free O2 in legume root nodules by the use of a specialized respiratory electron transport chain terminating with an oxidase that ought to have a high affinity for O2. Previously, we suggested that the microaerobically and anaerobically induced fixNOQP operon of Bradyrhizobium japonicum might code for such a special oxidase. Here we report the biochemical characteristics of this terminal oxidase after a 27-fold enrichment from membranes of anaerobically grown B. japonicum wild-type cells. The purified oxidase has TMPD (N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine) oxidase activity as well as cytochrome c oxidase activity. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of its major constituent subunits confirmed that presence of the fixN,fixO, and fixP gene products. FixN is a highly hydrophobic, heme B-binding protein. FixO and FixP are membrane-anchored c-type cytochromes (apparent Mrs of 29,000 and 31,000, respectively), as shown by their peroxidase activities in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. All oxidase properties are diagnostic for it to be a member of the cbb3-type subfamily of heme-copper oxidases. The FixP protein was immunologically detectable in membranes isolated from root nodule bacteroids, and 85% of the total cytochrome c oxidase activity in bacteroid membranes was contributed by the cbb3-type oxidase. The Km values for O2 of the purified enzyme and of membranes from different B. japonicum wild-type and mutant strains were determined by a spectrophotometric method with oxygenated soybean leghemoglobin as the sole O2 delivery system. The derived Km value for O2 of the cbb3-type oxidase in membranes was 7 nM, which is six- to eightfold lower than that determined for the aerobic aa3-type cytochrome c oxidase. We conclude that the cbb3-type oxidase supports microaerobic respiration in endosymbiotic bacteroids.

Aerobiosis↗

Impact of glyphosate on the Bradyrhizobium japonicum symbiosis with glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybean: a minireview.

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] expressing an insensitive 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene has revolutionized weed control in soybean production. The soybean nitrogen fixing symbiont, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, possesses a glyphosate-sensitive enzyme and upon exposure to glyphosate accumulates shikimic acid and hydroxybenzoic acids such as protocatechuic acid (PCA), accompanied with B. japonicum growth inhibition and death at high concentrations. In a series of greenhouse and field experiments, glyphosate inhibited nodulation and nodule leghemoglobin content of GR soybean. Glyphosate accumulated in nodules of field-grown GR soybean, but its effect on nitrogenase activity of GR soybean was inconsistent in field studies. In greenhouse studies, nitrogenase activity of GR soybean following glyphosate application was transiently inhibited especially in early growth stages, with the greatest inhibition occurring under moisture stress. Studies using bacteroid preparations showed that the level of glyphosate inhibition of bacteroid nitrogenase activity was related to in vitro glyphosate sensitivity of the B. japonicum strains. These studies indicate the potential for reduced nitrogen fixation in the GR soybean system; however, yield reductions due to this reduced N2 fixation in early stages of growth have not been demonstrated.

Bradyrhizobium↗

Effect of salt stress on nodulation and nitrogen fixation in legumes.

It is now well established that almost all phases of root nodule development in legumes are adversely affected by saline conditions in the rooting medium. There is also a general agreement that the rhizobia are more tolerant to salt stress than the host plant, but they show considerable strain variability in growth and survival under saline conditions. Inhibitory effect of salinity on nodulation has been attributed to decrease in rhizobial colonisation and shrinkage and lack of root hair formation. Salt stress also induces premature senescence of already formed nodules. Both N2-fixation activity and nodule respiration are inhibited sharply on exposure of plants to saline conditions. The decrease in N2-fixation has been ascribed to direct effect on nitrogenase activity or an indirect effect through decrease in leghemoglobin content, respiratory rate, malate concentrations in nodules and photosynthate availability. Salinity increases oxygen diffusion resistance in the nodules and alters their ultrastructure. Decrease in N2-fixation in nodules under salinity is also accompanied by parallel decrease in the activity of H2O2-scavenging enzymes like catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and the level of antioxidants like ascorbic acid. Nodules appear to undergo osmoregulation under saline conditions by accumulating physiologically compatible solutes like proline, sugars (pinnitol) and lactic acid. The intensity of the adverse effects of salinity on nodule functioning depends on plant species, rhizobial strain, duration of exposure to saline conditions, nature, concentration and mode of salt application.

Fabaceae↗

Nodulin-100 of soybean is the subunit of sucrose synthase regulated by the availability of free heme in nodules.

A cDNA sequence encoding a nodule-specific protein, nodulin-100, was identified among the abundant transcripts of poly(A)+ RNA from soybean nodules. Purification of nodulin-100 from the soluble fraction of nodule extract yielded an abundant protein with a subunit of approximately 90 kDa having properties of sucrose synthase (UDP-glucose:D-fructose 2-alpha-D-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.13). Nodule sucrose synthase of soybean is a tetrameric enzyme. Antibodies raised against this protein cross-reacted with the hybrid-released translation product of nodulin-100 cDNA, suggesting that nodulin-100 is the subunit of this enzyme. This was confirmed by partial DNA sequence analysis which showed 73% sequence homology at the amino acid level with maize sucrose synthase. Nodule sucrose synthase was found to dissociate rapidly into monomers in the presence of heme, suggesting that the availability of free heme may regulate the activity of this enzyme. Sucrose synthase activity increases rapidly during nodule development and declines during senescence. A model is presented which suggests that this enzyme plays a key role in maintaining the carbon economy of the nodules and the free heme may be involved in the flow of carbon to the bacteroids. As the degradation of leghemoglobin occurs during senescence, a concomitant decrease in sucrose synthase activity is observed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cloning and identification of lupin nodule specific cDNA sequences.

Yellow lupin nodule specific sequences were selected by screening of cDNA library prepared from lupin nodule poly(A)+RNA. From about 3,000 clones containing fragments of lupin DNA 150-1,500 base pair long, 7% of clones carrying nodule specific sequences were identified. Among them the most abundant sequence species, represented by 32% clones, encodes leghemoglobin. Another abundant species designated pLN13 is represented by 13% clones. The Northern blot analysis of lupin mRNA confirmed nodule specificity of the cloned sequences. The nucleotide sequence of one clone, pLN281 of 225 bp, is presented.

Base Sequence↗

The kinetics of the reactions of Parasponia andersonii hemoglobin with oxygen, carbon monoxide, and nitric oxide.

Hemoglobin I was isolated from nodules formed on the roots of Parasponia andersonii inoculated with Rhizobium strain CP 283. The rate of oxygen dissociation from Parasponia hemoglobin increases about 12-fold between pH 4 and 7, with apparent pK 6.4, to reach a limiting value of 14.8s-1. The optical spectrum of oxyhemoglobin in the visible region is also dependent on pH with pK near 6.4. The rate constant for oxygen combination with Parasponia hemoglobin increases about 7-8-fold between pH 4 and 7, with apparent pK 5.37, to reach a value of 1.67 X 10(8) M-1 s-1 at pH 7. The optical spectrum of deoxyhemoglobin in the visible region and the rate constant for carbon monoxide combination are also dependent on pH with apparent pK 5.65 and 5.75, respectively. The rate constant for carbon monoxide dissociation is independent of pH. The oxygen affinity of Parasponia hemoglobin, P50 = 0.049 torr at 20 degrees C, calculated from the kinetic constants at pH 7, is very great. At alkaline pH there is a prominent geminate reaction with oxygen and nitric oxide, with both subnanosecond and tens of nanosecond components. These reactions disappear at acid pH, with pK 6.4, and the effective quantum yield is reduced. In general, the reactions of Parasponia hemoglobin with oxygen and carbon monoxide resemble those of soybean leghemoglobin. In each, great oxygen affinity is achieved by unusually rapid oxygen combination together with a moderate rate of oxygen dissociation. We suggest that protonation of a heme-linked group with pK near 6.4 controls many properties of Parasponia oxyhemoglobin, and protonation of a group with pK near 5.5 controls many properties of Parasponia deoxyhemoglobin.

Carbon Monoxide↗

Ligand binding to heme proteins. An evaluation of distal effects.

The O2, CO, and alkyl isocyanide-binding properties of a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate heme proteins have been compared in detail to those of protoheme mono-3-(1-imidazoyl)-propylamide monomethyl ester in aqueous suspensions of soap micelles. The proteins examined include: cytochrome P-450cam from Pseudomonas putida, beef heart cytochrome c oxidase, yeast cytochrome c peroxidase, alpha and beta subunits of human hemoglobin, sheep hemoglobin, carp hemoglobin, sperm whale myoglobin, horse heart myoglobin, a monomeric hemoglobin from Glycera dibranchiata, erythrocruorin from Chironomusthummii, soybean leghemoglobin, and several hemoglobins that lack distal histidines. The smallest bimolecular rates were observed for cytochrome P-450 containing bound camphor, cytochrome c oxidase, and cytochrome c peroxidase. In the case of P-450, the extremely low isonitrile binding rates (approximately 1 M-1 S-1 at 20 degrees C) are due to steric exclusion by bound camphor molecules. For the oxidase and peroxidase, inhibition of CO and isonitrile binding appears to be due to the polar nature of the active sites. In the cases of animal hemoglobins and myoglobins, the sixth coordination positions appear to be designed to accommodate diatomic molecules with no steric hindrance by distal protein residues. Protein resistance to the diffusion of CO and O2 does not limit the observed association rate constants. In contrast, ligands containing three or more atoms are sterically hindered both in their final bound positions and during diffusion to the active site. The magnitude of this hindrance (greater than or equal to 2 kcal/mol) exhibits a complex dependence on ligand size and shape. The most important protein residue appears to be His E7. In addition to restricting the size of the sixth coordination position, the distal histidine is also capable of forming a hydrogen bond with bound oxygen molecules. The strength of this hydrogen bond was estimated to be -2 and -1 kcal/mol for mammalian myoglobins and hemoglobins, respectively, and accounts for the smaller CO/O2 partition constants (M values) observed for these proteins in comparison to the constants observed for pentacoordinate model heme compounds.

Animals↗

[Conformation properties of heme-containing proteins using spin labels].

The review briefly summarizes the results of spin-label studies of conformational transitions in monomeric globins (myoglobin, leghemoglobin, erythrocruorin) as well as in another heme-containing protein, cytochrome c, induced by heme ligands and pH. In contrast with integral methods of investigation, for proteins with a known spatial structure the use of the spin-labelling technique makes it possible to obtain information on the conformational behaviour of the isolated parts of the protein structure which, alongside with the results obtained by other physico-chemical methods, allows a conclusion on the nature of conformational movements in the protein during its functioning. The experimental results fit well into the model which represents a Mb-like structure as composed of three independent rigid helical fragments: AE(ABCDE), F and GH, whose reciprocal arrangement is controlled by N- and C-terminal salt bridges. Synchronous displacement of the above fragments relative to one another, which is due either to the ligand attachment and structural changes in the heme complex or to disturbances in ionic interactions at the N- and/or C-end(s) of the structure under effect of pH or allosteric effectors, might serve as a structural basis for homo- and heterotropic regulation in hemoglobin. Similarly, the spin label method allows for tracing and obtaining important information about local conformational events in cytochrome c which in the native protein are associated with a change in pH in the range of 5-13 and are accompanied by the substitution of the heme sixth ligand, Met-80, by Lys-79 (pH 9.3), and then by Tyr-67 (pK 11.1). Local changes in the conformation and dynamic properties of native cytochrome c provide, if necessary, global changes in its structure upon alkaline denaturation. It was found that substitution of the heme protein ligand, Met-80, by the external ligand, cyanide, markedly alters the dynamic properties of the polypeptide chain segment 67-75 adjacent to Met-80.

Hemeproteins↗

Nitric oxide myoglobin: crystal structure and analysis of ligand geometry.

The structure of the ferrous nitric oxide form of native sperm whale myoglobin has been determined by X-ray crystallography to 1.7 angstroms resolution. The nitric oxide ligand is bent with respect to the heme plane: the Fe-N-O angle is 112 degrees. This angle is smaller than those observed in model compounds and in lupin leghemoglobin. The exact angle appears to be influenced by the strength of the proximal bond and hydrogen bonding interactions between the distal histidine and the bound ligand. Specifically, the N(epsilon) atom of histidine64 is located 2.8 angstroms away from the nitrogen atom of the bound ligand, implying electrostatic stabilization of the FeNO complex. This interpretation is supported by mutagenesis studies. When histidine64 is replaced with apolar amino acids, the rate of nitric oxide dissociation from myoglobin increases tenfold.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

Hydrophobic interaction between globin helices.

The interhelical interfaces have been examined in seven high-resolution globin chains. The profiles of hydrophobic contact, as measured by the residue solvent-accessible area loss upon folding, have been calculated. The seven globins studied differ in their overall loss of solvent-accessible area upon packing of their helices, the order being 1MBD greater than 1LH1 greater than 1ECD greater than 2MHBB greater than 2HHBB greater than 2HHBA greater than 2MHBA, which gives a measure of the difference in stability due to the hydrophobic interaction. The five helix-pair packings (AH, BE, BG, FH and GH) examined in detail have qualitative similarities. There are, however, substantial quantitative differences both at the equivalent residue level and at the level of overall helix-helix contact, which has significance in some models of folding. The AH pair has the most uniform area loss over the seven globins and the largest variation in accessible area loss on packing among the five helix pairs is the GH pair. The set of residues required to produce the globin fold has been deduced from the residue area losses.

Animals↗

Linear programming optimization and a double statistical filter for protein threading protocols.

The design of scoring functions (or potentials) for threading, differentiating native-like from non-native structures with a limited computational cost, is an active field of research. We revisit two widely used families of threading potentials: the pairwise and profile models. To design optimal scoring functions we use linear programming (LP). The LP protocol makes it possible to measure the difficulty of a particular training set in conjunction with a specific form of the scoring function. Gapless threading demonstrates that pair potentials have larger prediction capacity compared with profile energies. However, alignments with gaps are easier to compute with profile potentials. We therefore search and propose a new profile model with comparable prediction capacity to contact potentials. A protocol to determine optimal energy parameters for gaps, using LP, is also presented. A statistical test, based on a combination of local and global Z-scores, is employed to filter out false-positives. Extensive tests of the new protocol are presented. The new model provides an efficient alternative for threading with pair energies, maintaining comparable accuracy. The code, databases, and a prediction server are available at http://www.tc.cornell.edu/CBIO/loopp.

Amino Acid Sequence↗