scholarly journals Ammonia-Induced Formation of an AmtB-GlnK Complex Is Not Sufficient for Nitrogenase Regulation in the Photosynthetic Bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus

2007 ◽  
Vol 190 (5) ◽  
pp. 1588-1594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pier-Luc Tremblay ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Keyword(s):  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
The Other ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Nitrogenase Regulation ◽  
Ammonia Transport ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACT A series of Rhodobacter capsulatus AmtB variants were created and assessed for effects on ammonia transport, formation of AmtB-GlnK complexes, and regulation of nitrogenase activity and NifH ADP-ribosylation. Confirming previous reports, H193 and H342 were essential for ammonia transport and the replacement of aspartate 185 with glutamate reduced ammonia transport. Several amino acid residues, F131, D334, and D335, predicted to be critical for AmtB activity, are shown here for the first time by mutational analysis to be essential for transport. Alterations of the C-terminal tail reduced methylamine transport, prevented AmtB-GlnK complex formation, and abolished nitrogenase switch-off and NifH ADP-ribosylation. On the other hand, D185E, with a reduced level of transport, was capable of forming an ammonium-induced complex with GlnK and regulating nitrogenase. This reinforces the notions that ammonia transport is not sufficient for nitrogenase regulation and that formation of an AmtB-GlnK complex is necessary for these processes. However, some transport-incompetent AmtB variants, i.e., F131A, H193A, and H342A, form ammonium-induced complexes with GlnK but fail to properly regulate nitrogenase. These results show that formation of an AmtB-GlnK complex is insufficient in itself for nitrogenase regulation and suggest that partial ammonia transport or occupation of the pore by ammonia is essential for this function.

scholarly journals The Presence of ADP-Ribosylated Fe Protein of Nitrogenase in Rhodobacter capsulatus Is Correlated with Cellular Nitrogen Status

1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (7) ◽  
pp. 1994-2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander F. Yakunin ◽  
Tatyana V. Laurinavichene ◽  
Anatoly A. Tsygankov ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Keyword(s):  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Covalent Modification ◽  
Nitrogen Status ◽  
Modification System ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Fe Protein ◽  
Batch Growth

ABSTRACT The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus has been shown to regulate its nitrogenase by covalent modification via the reversible ADP-ribosylation of Fe protein in response to darkness or the addition of external NH4 +. Here we demonstrate the presence of ADP-ribosylated Fe protein under a variety of steady-state growth conditions. We examined the modification of Fe protein and nitrogenase activity under three different growth conditions that establish different levels of cellular nitrogen: batch growth with limiting NH4 +, where the nitrogen status is externally controlled; batch growth on relatively poor nitrogen sources, where the nitrogen status is internally controlled by assimilatory processes; and continuous culture. When cultures were grown to stationary phase with different limiting concentrations of NH4 +, the ADP-ribosylation state of Fe protein was found to correlate with cellular nitrogen status. Additionally, actively growing cultures (grown with N2 or glutamate), which had an intermediate cellular nitrogen status, contained a portion of their Fe protein in the modified state. The correlation between cellular nitrogen status and ADP-ribosylation state was corroborated with continuous cultures grown under various degrees of nitrogen limitation. These results show that in R. capsulatus the modification system that ADP-ribosylates nitrogenase in the short term in response to abrupt changes in the environment is also capable of modifying nitrogenase in accordance with long-term cellular conditions.

Role of GlnB and GlnK in ammonium control of both nitrogenase systems in the phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus

Microbiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 149 (8) ◽  
pp. 2203-2212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Drepper ◽  
Silke Groß ◽  
Alexander F. Yakunin ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck ◽  
Bernd Masepohl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Translational Control ◽  
Double Mutant ◽  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Ammonium Transporter ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Ammonium Regulation

In most bacteria, nitrogen metabolism is tightly regulated and PII proteins play a pivotal role in the regulatory processes. Rhodobacter capsulatus possesses two genes (glnB and glnK) encoding PII-like proteins. The glnB gene forms part of a glnB–glnA operon and the glnK gene is located immediately upstream of amtB, encoding a (methyl-) ammonium transporter. Expression of glnK is activated by NtrC under nitrogen-limiting conditions. The synthesis and activity of the molybdenum and iron nitrogenases of R. capsulatus are regulated by ammonium on at least three levels, including the transcriptional activation of nifA1, nifA2 and anfA by NtrC, the regulation of NifA and AnfA activity by two different NtrC-independent mechanisms, and the post-translational control of the activity of both nitrogenases by reversible ADP-ribosylation of NifH and AnfH as well as by ADP-ribosylation independent switch-off. Mutational analysis revealed that both PII-like proteins are involved in the ammonium regulation of the two nitrogenase systems. A mutation in glnB results in the constitutive expression of nifA and anfA. In addition, the post-translational ammonium inhibition of NifA activity is completely abolished in a glnB–glnK double mutant. However, AnfA activity was still suppressed by ammonium in the glnB–glnK double mutant. Furthermore, the PII-like proteins are involved in ammonium control of nitrogenase activity via ADP-ribosylation and the switch-off response. Remarkably, in the glnB–glnK double mutant, all three levels of the ammonium regulation of the molybdenum (but not of the alternative) nitrogenase are completely circumvented, resulting in the synthesis of active molybdenum nitrogenase even in the presence of high concentrations of ammonium.

Regulation of nitrogenase in the photosynthetic bacteriumRhodobacter sphaeroidescontainingdraTGandnifHDKgenes fromRhodobacter capsulatus

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander F Yakunin ◽  
Alexander S Fedorov ◽  
Tatyana V Laurinavichene ◽  
Vadim M Glaser ◽  
Nikolay S Egorov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Photosynthetic Bacteria ◽  
Rhodospirillum Rubrum ◽  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Fe Protein ◽  
Dinitrogenase Reductase ◽  
Different Strains

The photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodospirillum rubrum regulate their nitrogenase activity by the reversible ADP-ribosylation of nitrogenase Fe-protein in response to ammonium addition or darkness. This regulation is mediated by two enzymes, dinitrogenase reductase ADP-ribosyl transferase (DRAT) and dinitrogenase reductase activating glycohydrolase (DRAG). Recently, we demonstrated that another photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, appears to have no draTG genes, and no evidence of Fe-protein ADP-ribosylation was found in this bacterium under a variety of growth and incubation conditions. Here we show that four different strains of Rba. sphaeroides are incapable of modifying Fe-protein, whereas four out of five Rba. capsulatus strains possess this ability. Introduction of Rba. capsulatus draTG and nifHDK (structural genes for nitrogenase proteins) into Rba. sphaeroides had no effect on in vivo nitrogenase activity and on nitrogenase switch-off by ammonium. However, transfer of draTG from Rba. capsulatus was sufficient to confer on Rba. sphaeroides the ability to reversibly modify the nitrogenase Fe-protein in response to either ammonium addition or darkness. These data suggest that Rba. sphaeroides, which lacks DRAT and DRAG, possesses all the elements necessary for the transduction of signals generated by ammonium or darkness to these proteins.Key words: nitrogenase regulation, nitrogenase modification, photosynthetic bacteria.

scholarly journals Membrane Sequestration of PII Proteins and Nitrogenase Regulation in the Photosynthetic Bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus

2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (16) ◽  
pp. 5850-5859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pier-Luc Tremblay ◽  
Thomas Drepper ◽  
Bernd Masepohl ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Keyword(s):  
Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Membrane Fraction ◽  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Native Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Pii Proteins ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACT Both Rhodobacter capsulatus PII homologs GlnB and GlnK were found to be necessary for the proper regulation of nitrogenase activity and modification in response to an ammonium shock. As previously reported for several other bacteria, ammonium addition triggered the AmtB-dependent association of GlnK with the R. capsulatus membrane. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis indicates that the modification/demodification of one PII homolog is aberrant in the absence of the other. In a glnK mutant, more GlnB was found to be membrane associated under these conditions. In a glnB mutant, GlnK fails to be significantly sequestered by AmtB, even though it appears to be fully deuridylylated. Additionally, the ammonium-induced enhanced sequestration by AmtB of the unmodifiable GlnK variant GlnK-Y51F follows the wild-type GlnK pattern with a high level in the cytoplasm without the addition of ammonium and an increased level in the membrane fraction after ammonium treatment. These results suggest that factors other than PII modification are driving its association with AmtB in the membrane in R. capsulatus.

Short-Term Regulation of Nitrogenase Activity by NH4+ in Rhodobacter capsulatus: Multiple In Vivo Nitrogenase Responses to NH4+ Addition

1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (23) ◽  
pp. 6392-6395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander F. Yakunin ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Keyword(s):  
Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Magnitude Response ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Reversible Inhibition

ABSTRACT The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus has been shown to carry out nitrogenase “switch-off,” a rapid, reversible inhibition of in vivo activity. Here, we demonstrate that highly nitrogen-limited cultures of both the wild-type strain and adraT draG mutant are capable of nitrogenase switch-off while moderately nitrogen-limited cultures show instead a “magnitude” response, with a decrease in in vivo nitrogenase activity that is proportional to the amount of added NH4 +.

scholarly journals Urea Utilization in the Phototrophic BacteriumRhodobacter capsulatus Is Regulated by the Transcriptional Activator NtrC

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (2) ◽  
pp. 637-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Masepohl ◽  
Björn Kaiser ◽  
Nazila Isakovic ◽  
Cynthia L. Richard ◽  
Robert G. Kranz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Nitrogen Source ◽  
Urease Activity ◽  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Purple Bacterium ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Induced Mutations

ABSTRACT The phototrophic nonsulfur purple bacteriumRhodobacter capsulatus can use urea as a sole source of nitrogen. Three transposon Tn5-induced mutations (Xan-9, Xan-10, and Xan-19), which led to a Ure−phenotype, were mapped to the ureF and ureCgenes, whereas two other Tn5 insertions (Xan-20 and Xan-22) were located within the ntrC and ntrB genes, respectively. As in Klebsiella aerogenes and other bacteria, the genes encoding urease (ureABC) and the genes required for assembly of the nickel metallocenter (ureD andureEFG) are clustered in R. capsulatus(ureDABC-orf136-ureEFG). No homologues of Orf136 were found in the databases, and mutational analysis demonstrated that orf136 is not essential for urease activity or growth on urea. Analysis of aureDA-lacZ fusion showed that maximum expression of the ure genes occurred under nitrogen-limiting conditions (e.g., serine or urea as the sole nitrogen source), but ure gene expression was not substrate (urea) inducible. Expression of the ure genes was strictly dependent on NtrC, whereas ς54 was not essential for urease activity. Expression of the ure genes was lower (by a factor of 3.5) in the presence of ammonium than under nitrogen-limiting conditions, but significant transcription was also observed in the presence of ammonium, approximately 10-fold higher than in an ntrC mutant background. Thus, ure gene expression in the presence of ammonium also requires NtrC. Footprint analyses demonstrated binding of NtrC to tandem binding sites upstream of the ureD promoter. Phosphorylation of NtrC increased DNA binding by at least eightfold. Although urea is effectively used as a nitrogen source in an NtrC-dependent manner, nitrogenase activity was not repressed by urea.

scholarly journals Mutagenesis and Functional Characterization of theglnB, glnA, and nifA Genes from the Photosynthetic Bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (4) ◽  
pp. 983-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaoping Zhang ◽  
Edward L. Pohlmann ◽  
Paul W. Ludden ◽  
Gary P. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Rhodospirillum Rubrum ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Dinitrogenase Reductase ◽  
Adp Ribosyltransferase

ABSTRACT Nitrogen fixation is tightly regulated in Rhodospirillum rubrum at two different levels: transcriptional regulation ofnif expression and posttranslational regulation of dinitrogenase reductase by reversible ADP-ribosylation catalyzed by the DRAT-DRAG (dinitrogenase reductase ADP-ribosyltransferase–dinitrogenase reductase-activating glycohydrolase) system. We report here the characterization ofglnB, glnA, and nifA mutants and studies of their relationship to the regulation of nitrogen fixation. Two mutants which affect glnB (structural gene for PII) were constructed. While PII-Y51F showed a lower nitrogenase activity than that of wild type, a PIIdeletion mutant showed very little nif expression. This effect of PII on nif expression is apparently the result of a requirement of PII for NifA activation, whose activity is regulated by NH4 + in R. rubrum. The modification of glutamine synthetase (GS) in theseglnB mutants appears to be similar to that seen in wild type, suggesting that a paralog of PII might exist inR. rubrum and regulate the modification of GS. PII also appears to be involved in the regulation of DRAT activity, since an altered response to NH4 + was found in a mutant expressing PII-Y51F. The adenylylation of GS plays no significant role in nif expression or the ADP-ribosylation of dinitrogenase reductase, since a mutant expressing GS-Y398F showed normal nitrogenase activity and normal modification of dinitrogenase reductase in response to NH4 + and darkness treatments.

scholarly journals AmtB Is Necessary for NH4+-Induced Nitrogenase Switch-Off and ADP-Ribosylation in Rhodobacter capsulatus

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (15) ◽  
pp. 4081-4088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander F. Yakunin ◽  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck
Keyword(s):  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Growth Defect ◽  
Synthetase Activity ◽  
Glutamine Synthetase Activity ◽  
Adp Ribosylation ◽  
Fe Protein ◽  
Knockout Mutants

ABSTRACT Rhodobacter capsulatus possesses two genes potentially coding for ammonia transporters, amtB and amtY. In order to better understand their role in the physiology of this bacterium and their possible significance in nitrogen fixation, we created single-knockout mutants. Strains mutated in either amtB or amtY did not show a growth defect under any condition tested and were still capable of taking up ammonia at nearly wild-type rates, but an amtB mutant was no longer capable of transporting methylamine. The amtB strain but not the amtY strain was also totally defective in carrying out ADP-ribosylation of Fe-protein or the switch-off of in vivo nitrogenase activity in response to NH4 + addition. ADP-ribosylation in response to darkness was unaffected in amtB and amtBY strains, and glutamine synthetase activity was normally regulated in these strains in response to ammonium addition, suggesting that one role of AmtB is to function as an ammonia sensor for the processes that regulate nitrogenase activity.

scholarly journals Enhanced Nitrogenase Activity in Strains of Rhodobacter capsulatus That Overexpress the rnf Genes

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (5) ◽  
pp. 1208-1214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho-Sang Jeong ◽  
Yves Jouanneau
Keyword(s):  
Rhodobacter Capsulatus ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Photosynthetic Bacterium ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Wild Type Level ◽  
Intracellular Content ◽  
Nitrogenase Activities ◽  
Membrane Bound

ABSTRACT In the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, a putative membrane-bound complex encoded by the rnfABCDGEHoperon is thought to be dedicated to electron transport to nitrogenase. In this study, the whole rnf operon was cloned under the control of the nifH promoter in plasmid pNR117 and expressed in several rnf mutants. Complementation analysis demonstrated that transconjugants which integrated plasmid pNR117 directed effective biosynthesis of a functionally competent complex inR. capsulatus. Moreover, it was found that strains carrying pNR117 displayed nitrogenase activities 50 to 100% higher than the wild-type level. The results of radioactive labeling experiments indicated that the intracellular content of nitrogenase polypeptides was marginally altered in strains containing pNR117, whereas the levels of the RnfB and RnfC proteins present in the membrane were four- and twofold, respectively, higher than the wild-type level. Hence, the enhancement of in vivo nitrogenase activity was correlated with a commensurate overproduction of the Rnf polypeptides. In vitro nitrogenase assays performed in the presence of an artificial electron donor indicated that the catalytic activity of the enzyme was not increased in strains overproducing the Rnf polypeptides. It is proposed that the supply of reductants through the Rnf complex might be rate limiting for nitrogenase activity in vivo. Immunoprecipitation experiments performed on solubilized membrane proteins revealed that RnfB and RnfC are associated with each other and with additional polypeptides which may be components of the membrane-bound complex.

Darwin's two competing phylogenetic trees: marsupials as ancestors or sister taxa?

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
The Other ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
Single Origin ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Richard Owen ◽  
First Time

Studies of the origin and diversification of major groups of plants and animals are contentious topics in current evolutionary biology. This includes the study of the timing and relationships of the two major clades of extant mammals – marsupials and placentals. Molecular studies concerned with marsupial and placental origin and diversification can be at odds with the fossil record. Such studies are, however, not a recent phenomenon. Over 150 years ago Charles Darwin weighed two alternative views on the origin of marsupials and placentals. Less than a year after the publication of On the origin of species, Darwin outlined these in a letter to Charles Lyell dated 23 September 1860. The letter concluded with two competing phylogenetic diagrams. One showed marsupials as ancestral to both living marsupials and placentals, whereas the other showed a non-marsupial, non-placental as being ancestral to both living marsupials and placentals. These two diagrams are published here for the first time. These are the only such competing phylogenetic diagrams that Darwin is known to have produced. In addition to examining the question of mammalian origins in this letter and in other manuscript notes discussed here, Darwin confronted the broader issue as to whether major groups of animals had a single origin (monophyly) or were the result of “continuous creation” as advocated for some groups by Richard Owen. Charles Lyell had held similar views to those of Owen, but it is clear from correspondence with Darwin that he was beginning to accept the idea of monophyly of major groups.

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