Open AccessCyanate is transported by the nitrate permease in Azotobacter chroococcum
Author(s) -
Muñozcenteno María C.,
Paneque Antonio,
Cejudo Francisco J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08088.x
Subject(s) - azotobacter chroococcum , cyanate , nitrate , permease , ammonium , chemistry , biochemistry , mutant , azotobacteraceae , nitrate reductase , glycine , biology , nitrogenase , nitrogen , nitrogen fixation , organic chemistry , amino acid , bacteria , genetics , gene
Abstract Azotobacter chroococcum cells exhibiting the capacity to take up nitrate actively could transport [ 14 C]cyanate. This activity was dependent on the nitrogen source present in the culture medium, ammonium acting as a repressor and nitrate as an inducer. The uptake of cyanate required metabolic energy and was absent from A. Chroococcum TR1, a mutant strain lacking the nitrate transport system, but was present at wild‐type levels in A. chroococcum E4, a mutant strain deficient in nitrate reductase. These results show that cyanate is transported by the nitrate permease in A. chroococcum and therefore [ 14 C]cyanate may be useful as a nitrate analogue for studies on nitrate transport.