Upstream CRP-binding site is not essential for CRP-cAMP-mediated inhibition on the nifU promoter

When the NifA-mediated activation of Klebsiella pneumoniae nifU promoter is recreated in Escherichia coli, it has been observed that CRP-cAMP has an inhibitory effect on the nifU promoter. Sequence analysis indicates that there is a strong CRP-binding site located upstream of the nifU promoter, overlapping completely with a previously identified NifA-binding site. In vitro gel retardation analysis indicates that this putative CRP-binding site has similar affinity for CRP, when compared with that at the lac promoter, suggesting that CRP could effectively compete with NifA for such a binding site under physiological conditions. When this putative CRP-binding site on nifU was mutated, in vitro gel retardation analysis indicates that CRP can no longer bind to the mutant promoter. However, when constitutively expressed NifA is used as the activator, CRP-cAMP-mediated inhibitory effect on this mutant nifU promoter has no significant difference when compared with that obtained from its wild-type promoter. These results suggest that direct interaction between CRP and Eσ54, other than the DNA binding site(s) competition between CRP and NifA, plays the principal role in the CRP-cAMP-mediated inhibitory effect on nifU.     

Present status and development on biological nitrogen fixation research in China

This presentation introduces the advances in biological nitrogen fixation research abroad, in particular,describes the great progress and achievements on its research in China as follows: collection of rhizobial resources and establishment of the largest database of Rhizobium in China, correction and development of Rhizobium taxonomy in international; discovery of a couple of nif genes, identification and unification of linkage among the nif gene operons of Klebsiella pneumoniae, finding of regulative mechanism of positive regulation nif gene and its sensitivity to oxygen,temperature; finding of the activity of nodulation gene nodD3 product in Sinorhizobium meliloti which is not controlled by flavonoid produced from its host alfalfa; finding of the association between expression of genes coding the products for carbon utilization and nitrogen metabolism and their regulations; chemical synthesis of nodulation factor of Sinorhizobium meliloti; constructions of engineered nitrogen fixers and utilization in practice based on the research of gene expression and regulation; chemical simulation of the structure and function of nitrogenase and bringing forward the model of nitrogenase active center for the first time in international and synthesis of model compounds which were paid attention by colleagues abroad. Finally, the development of nitrogen fixation research in China in future has been put forward, suggesting that the nif gene regulation and its role in providing crops with nitrogen element, signal transduction and molecular interactions between Rhizobium and legume, coupling between carbon and nitrogen metabolisms, nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis, and functional genomics of nitrogen-fixing nodule symbiosis, etc., would be actively worked on.     

Activation of extra copies of genes coding for nitrogenase in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata

Biological nitrogen fixation requires the nitrogenase enzyme complex, ATP, and a strong reductant. Klebsiella pneumoniae contains 15 linked nitrogen fixation (nif) genes, three of which, nifH, nifD and nifK have been sufficiently conserved in evolution that cloned K. pneumoniae nifHDK DNA will hybridize to DNA sequences from every nitrogen-fixing bacterium examined to date, including the purple, non-sulphur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, in which one complete nifHDK operon has been mapped. Using cloned K. pneumoniae nifHDK DNA we report here that R. capsulata contains multiple copies of the genes for nitrogenase components. Two regions containing sequences homologous to all three nif structural genes have been identified, and mutations in one region produced a Nif- phenotype. Nif+ pseudorevertants were derived from these mutants, some of which retained the original mutation suggesting that some of the extra nif gene sequences can be functionally activated.     

Regulation of nitrogen metabolism genes by nifA gene product in Klebsiella pneumoniae

The Klebsiella pneumoniae nifA gene product, which is known to activate expression of the nitrogen fixation (nif) structural genes, is shown here also to be able to substitute for the product of the gene glnG (ntrC) in the regulation of other nitrogen metabolism genes. An evolutionary relationship between the nifA and glnG genes is suggested.     

A general method for site-directed mutagenesis in prokaryotes

The genetic analysis of genes from prokaryotic species for which experimental genetic systems have not yet been developed is often limited by the difficulty of producing mutations in those genes. We report here a general technique applicable to Gram-negative prokaryotes for site-directed mutagenesis of cloned DNA fragments which we have applied to the study of the symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes of Rhizobium meliloti. In particular, we mutagenized cloned R. meliloti restriction fragments in Escherichia coli with transposon Tn5 and then replaced the wild-type parental DNA sequences with the mutant DNA sequences in the R. meliloti genome. Using this method we show that an R. meliloti DNA restriction fragment, cloned previously on the basis of homology to Klebsiella pneumoniae nif genes, contains gene(s) essential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. In addition, we use this method to construct a physical genetic map of a subset of the R. meliloti nif genes.     

Different recombination site specificity of two developmentally regulated genome rearrangements

In the absence of a combined nitrogen source, such as ammonia, approximately every tenth vegetative cell along filaments of the cyanobacterium Anabaena develops into a heterocyst, a terminally differentiated cell that is morphologically and biochemically specialized for nitrogen fixation. At least two specific DNA rearrangements involving the nitrogen-fixation (nif) genes occur during heterocyst differentiation, one within the nifD gene and the other near the nifS gene. The two rearrangements have several properties in common. Both occur quantitatively in all heterocyst genomes, both occur at approximately the same developmental time, late in the process of heterocyst differentiation, and both result from site-specific recombination between short repeated DNA sequences. We report here the nucleotide sequences found at the site of recombination near the nifS gene. These sequences differ from those found previously for the nifD rearrangement, suggesting that the two rearrangements are catalysed by different enzymes and may be regulated independently. We also show that the nifS gene is transcribed only from rearranged genomes.     

Rearrangement of nitrogen fixation genes during heterocyst differentiation in the cyanobacterium Anabaena

Nitrogen fixation by the cyanobacterium Anabaena is carried out in heterocysts, specialized, non-dividing cells which differentiate under conditions of ammonia or nitrate deprivation. In Anabaena, heterocyst differentiation is accompanied by rearrangement of some nitrogen fixation genes. A site-specific recombination between an 11 base-pair direct repeat sequence flanking the nifK and nifD genes removes 11 kilobases of intervening DNA, resulting in juxtaposition of the two genes and an alteration of the nifD protein-coding sequence.     

豆科植物-根瘤菌共生固氮的分子机理

与豆科植物－根瘤菌共生固氮有关的基因涉及根瘤菌基因和宿主基因，根瘤菌基因有结瘤基因（nodD,nodAB-CIJ和hsn基因），根瘤菌细胞表面结构基因（exs,lps和ndv基因）和固氮基因（nif和fix基因）；宿主基因主要是结瘤素基因（ENOD和NOD基因）。根瘤菌结瘤基因表达后诱导产生结瘤因子。在根瘤发育过程中，这些基因在根瘤菌与植物之间进行着信息交换，并且具有不同的表达水平。结瘤因子和植物激素对它们进行着调节。     

磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶基因的克隆与原核表达

以筛选得到的鲍曼不动杆菌（Acinetobacter baumannii）基因组DNA为模板,PCR扩增了磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶（PEPC）基因,构建了克隆载体pET-28a-PEPC。将测序结果正确的重组子转化到大肠杆菌BL21中,获得重组菌BL21-pET-28a-PEPC。经IPTG诱导,该重组菌实现了PEPC的高效表达,并且生长速度明显快于对照菌大肠杆菌BL21,可作为宿主用于构建碳固定工程菌。     

The role of CopG mediated DNA bending on the regulation of the σ^54-dependent promoters in E. coli

In prokaryotic cells, although the σ54 RNA poly- merase can stably bind to the σ54-dependent promoter without the enhancer-binding proteins (EBPs), it re- mains as a closed complex which is silent for transcrip- tion[1]. When binding to the enhancer-lik…     

栖热菌噬菌体TSP4密码子偏嗜性及其对基因异源表达的影响

 为了探索噬菌体TSP4、栖热菌模式菌株Thermus thermophilus HB27中6种蛋白编码序列和Escherichia coli基因组遗传密码子使用偏嗜性,探索TSP4基因密码子偏嗜性对其基因异源表达的影响本研究利用生物学软件Editseq和RSCU算法统计噬菌体TSP4密码子使用频率并分析其偏嗜性,与栖热菌HB27的同源基因以及常温菌E.coli基因组的密码子使用偏嗜性进行对比分析.结果显示,噬菌体TSP4与栖热菌HB27优势密码子相似度高达85%,而与E.coli的相似性仅有65%.为了验证分析结果,选取TSP4基因组中一个潜在分子伴侣基因序列在E.coli BL21和E.coli Rosetta(补充了BL21菌株中缺失的6个稀有密码子)中进行异源表达.噬菌体TSP4与其宿主菌HB27之间密码子高相似性说明在长期的进化过程中TSP4在基因水平上形成对宿主的一种适应性机制.异源表达结果显示,分子伴侣基因在E.coli BL21中未见明显表达,但在Rosetta中高效表达,说明Rosetta中补充的 6个稀有密码子明显有助于分子伴侣基因的表达,该结果也进一步证明密码子偏嗜性是否一致在很大程度上影响基因的表达.     

大肠杆菌ATCase抗反馈抑制突变体的构建及其对胞苷积累的影响

为解决胞苷生物合成途径中天冬氨酸氨甲酰转移酶受胞苷三磷酸反馈抑制调节的问题,通过对其碱基序列和蛋白质结构分析,利用基因定点突变的方法构建了大肠杆菌的ATCase突变酶,得到三个突变体:M1(H20L)、M2(K60E)、M3(K94E),并在E.coli DH5α中对融合蛋白进行了表达.酶活测定表明,M1、M2、M3的ATCase酶相对活性都比野生型M0的高,分别为野生型M0的1.10、1.22和1.37倍,且比活力都有不同程度提高.与含野生型pyrBI基因的M0相比,含突变型基因的M1、M2和M3均对15,mmol/L的CTP具有强的抗反馈抑制作用,且M1、M2和M3的抗CTP反馈抑制作用分别是M0的5.4、6.0和8.5倍.最后将各突变质粒转入到E.coli Cyt10(Δcdd)中进行发酵培养,结果表明,与未含突变基因菌株相比,各含突变基因菌株的胞苷积累量均有不同程度的提高,说明ATCase定点突变使胞苷的合成积累途径得到了不同程度的强化.     

大肠杆菌caiE基因的克隆与高效表达

用聚合酶链反应（PCR）从大肠杆菌K12s中扩增大肠杆菌肉碱代谢相关酶基因cai E,将其克隆到克隆载体pBluescripy SK中，测序表明：该基因有612bp，与文献报道相比，有10个核苷酸不同，相应的翻译氨基酸有6个相异，将该基因重组到ColE1为复制子，T7为启动子控制下的分泌型表达载体pET-22b( )中，构建表达质粒pETCaiE，重组到载体pACYC184中构建以p15A为复制子，Lac为启动子的表达质粒pACYC-CaiE；重组到载体pWSK129中，构建以pSC101为复制子，T7为启动子的表达质粒pSC-CaiE。上述表达质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21（DE3），经1mmol/L异丙基硫代－β－D－半乳糖苷（IPTG）诱导后，均可表达，SDS－PAGE分析表明表达蛋白分子质量约26ku，表达量占菌体总蛋白质的比例分别为pETCaiE30%,pACYC-CaiE8%,pSC-CaiE5%。     

Identification of the V factor needed for synthesis of the iron-molybdenum cofactor of nitrogenase as homocitrate

Nitrogenase catalyses the ATP-dependent reduction of N2 to NH3, and is composed of two proteins, dinitrogenase (MoFe protein or component I) and dinitrogenase reductase (Fe protein or component II). Dinitrogenase contains a unique prosthetic group (iron-molybdenum cofactor, FeMoco) comprised of Fe, Mo and S, which has been proposed as the site of N2 reduction. Biochemical and genetic studies of Nif- (nitrogen fixation) mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae which are defective in nitrogen fixation, have shown that the nifB, nifQ, nifN, nifE and nifV genes are required for the biosynthesis of FeMo-co. Recently, a system for in vitro synthesis of FeMoco was described. The assay requires at least the nifB, nifN and nifE gene products, and a low-molecular-weight factor (V factor) produced in the presence of the nifV gene product. We have used this system to study FeMoco biosynthesis. We report here the isolation of V factor and identify it as homocitric acid ([R]2-hydroxy-1,2,4-butanetricarboxylic acid).     

Cloning and Characterization of Gene Promoters from Bacillus pumilus

DNA fragments obtained from Sau3AI partially digested total DNA of Bacillus pumilus UN31-C-42 are first inserted into BamHI site of pSUPV4, a promoter-probe vector. The recombinant DNA molecules are transformed into Escherichia coli cells and eight-three Kanr clones (named pSUBp1-pSUBp83) are obtained. The inserted fragments in pSUBp53, pSUBp57, pSUBp21, which showed high level of kanamycin- resistance, are sequenced and analyzed, respectively. These fragments contain some con-served sequences of prokaryotic gene promoters, such as TATAAT and TIGACA box. The promoter frag-ment Bp53 could efficiently promote the alkaline protease gene of B. pumilus expression not only in E.coli but also in B. subtilis cells.