Sequence and structural organization of a nif A-like gene and part of a nifB-like gene of Herbaspirillum seropedicae strain Z78.

The deduced amino acid sequence derived from the sequence of a fragment of DNA from the free-living diazotroph Herbaspirillum seropedicae was aligned to the homologous protein sequences encoded by the nifA genes from Azorhizobium caulinodans, Rhizobium leguminosarum, Rhizobium meliloti and Klebsiella pneumoniae. High similarity was found in the central domain and in the C-terminal region. The H. seropedicae putative NifA sequence was also found to contain an interdomain linker similar to that conserved among rhizobial NifA proteins, but not K. pneumoniae or Azotobacter vinelandii. Analysis of the regulatory sequences found 5' from nifA indicated that the expression of this gene in H. seropedicae is likely to be controlled by NifA, NtrC and RpoN, as judged by the presence of specific NifA- and NtrC-binding sites and characteristic -24/-12 promoters. Possible additional regulatory features included an 'anaerobox' and a site for integration host factor. The N-terminus of another open reading frame was found 3' from nifA and tentatively identified as nifB by amino acid sequence comparison. The putative nifB promoter sequence suggests that expression of H. seropedicae nifB may be activated by NifA and dependent on RpoN.