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SYMBIOTIC LUMINOUS SOIL BACTERIA: UNUSUAL REGULATION FOR AN UNUSUAL NICHE
Author(s) -
Hosseini Pamela K.,
Nealson Kenneth H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1995.tb08710.x
Subject(s) - reversion , photorhabdus luminescens , biology , bacteria , organism , luminescence , strain (injury) , microbiology and biotechnology , phenotype , genetics , gene , optoelectronics , physics , anatomy
— Analysis of the patterns of luminescence in Photorhabdus luminescens suggests that the factors that regulate light emission may be fundamentally different in this organism from those known in its marine luminous counterparts. Patterns of light emission seen in strain Hm, in response to the mRNA synthesis inhibitor, rifampicin (RIF), suggest that regulation may be at a posttranscriptional level. When RIF is added at concentrations that inhibit but do not totally stop growth, an increase in luminescence activity is seen approximately two generations later, independent of the rate of growth, or the cell density at which RIF is added. Furthermore, in secondary variants of this strain, which are strongly repressed for luminescence, the addition of RIF results in virtually complete expression of the luminous system. This is apparently the first demonstration of the phenotypic reversion of a trait associated with the primary/secondary transition in this organism.