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Rhizobium tropici nodulation factor sulfation is limited by the quantity of activated form of sulfate
Author(s) -
Rémy Poupot,
Esperanza MartínezRomero,
Fabienne Maillet,
JeanClaude Promé
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(95)00737-t
Subject(s) - sulfation , nod , nod factor , biology , methylation , biochemistry , rhizobiaceae , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , symbiosis , genetics , root nodule
Rhizobium tropici is a broad host‐range symbiont of Phaseolus vulgaris . This bacterium produces a mixture of sulfated and non‐sulfatedN‐methylated pentameric nodulation (Nod) factors. To understand the genetic bases of the partial sulfation of R. tropici Nod factors, which might be involved in the broad host‐range of this species, we introduced in R. tropici CFN299 the recombinant plasmid pGMI515 carrying a set of nodulation ( nod ) genes of R. meliloti , including those involved in the sulfation of R. meliloti Nod factors. The CFN299 (pGMI515) transconjugant produced only sulfated Nod factors, but approximately half of them were no moreN‐methylated. Mutations in R. meliloti nodH gene did not decrease the Nod factor sulfation whereas inactivation of the nodPQ genes restored the production of a mixture of sulfated and non‐sulfated molecules. These results suggest that the limiting step in R. tropici Nod factor sulfation is the production of activated sulfate donors. Mutations in the R. meliloti nodFEG and nodH genes did not change theN‐methylation pattern, whereas mutations in nodPQ increased the degree ofN‐methylation, suggesting a metabolic link between sulfation and methylation of R. tropici Nod factors.