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FurA influences heterocyst differentiation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120
Author(s) -
González Andrés,
Valladares Ana,
Peleato M. Luisa,
Fillat María F.
Publication year - 2013
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/j.febslet.2013.07.007
Subject(s) - heterocyst , anabaena , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , morphogenesis , regulator , cyanobacteria , biochemistry , gene , genetics , bacteria
In Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, FurA is a global transcriptional regulator whose expression is strongly induced by NtcA in proheterocysts and remains stably expressed in mature heterocysts. In the present study, overexpression of furA partially suppressed heterocyst differentiation by impairing morphogenesis at an early stage. Recombinant purified FurA specifically bound in vitro to the promoter regions of ntcA , while quantitative RT‐PCR analyses indicated that furA overexpression strongly affected the transient increase of ntcA expression that occurs shortly after nitrogen step‐down. Overall, the results suggest a connection between iron homeostasis and heterocyst differentiation via FurA, by modulating the expression of ntcA .