Open AccessNitrogen assimilation in Corynebacterium diphtheriae : pathways and regulatory cascades
Author(s) -
Nolden Lars,
Beckers Gabriele,
Burkovski Andreas
Publication year - 2002
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.1574-6968.2002.tb11096.x
Subject(s) - corynebacterium glutamicum , corynebacterium diphtheriae , biology , assimilation (phonology) , gene , corynebacterium , mutant , biochemistry , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , diphtheria , linguistics , philosophy , vaccination , immunology
Abstract Genes encoding proteins for ammonium uptake, assimilation, and the nitrogen regulatory system in Corynebacterium diphtheriae were studied on basis of homology searches using Corynebacterium glutamicum genes as query sequences. Regulation of transcription of these genes in response to nitrogen starvation was analyzed by RNA hybridization experiments and knock‐out mutants were generated to verify the function of distinct genes. In this communication, we were able to identify the key components of ammonium assimilation pathways and nitrogen regulation in C. diphtheriae . Moreover, we show in this study that molecular biology methods and vectors developed for C. glutamicum can be applied in C. diphtheriae . The results obtained strengthens the role of C. glutamicum as a model organism for mycolic acids‐containing actinomycetes.