Sanjuan J, Olivares J
Departamento de Microbiología, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, Granada, Spain.
J Bacteriol. 1989 Aug;171(8):4154-61. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.8.4154-4161.1989.
We examined the contribution of a cryptic plasmid, pRmeGR4b, to the nodulation of Medicago sativa by strain GR4 of Rhizobium meliloti. A 905-base-pair PstI DNA fragment in pRmeGR4b was found to hybridize DNA of the R. meliloti fixA promoter region as a probe. Sequence analysis of the PstI fragment showed a 206-base-pair region displaying high homology with the DNA upstream of the RNA start points of the P1 and P2 symbiotic promoters. Putative nif promoter consensus sequences were conserved in this DNA segment. Expression of DNA downstream of the nif promoterlike sequence, monitored by beta-galactosidase activity of different lacZ fusions, was demonstrated to depend on a functional nifA gene, both in microaerobically free-living cells and in nodules. Individual transposon Tn3-HoHo1 insertions in this DNA region caused a reduced nodulation competitiveness. This new symbiotic region, occupying approximately 5 kilobases of pRmeGR4b DNA, was called nfe (nodule formation efficiency).
我们研究了隐秘质粒pRmeGR4b对苜蓿中华根瘤菌GR4菌株结瘤苜蓿的贡献。发现pRmeGR4b中一个905碱基对的PstI DNA片段可与苜蓿中华根瘤菌fixA启动子区域的DNA杂交作为探针。对PstI片段的序列分析表明,一个206碱基对的区域与P1和P2共生启动子RNA起始点上游的DNA具有高度同源性。假定的nif启动子共有序列在该DNA片段中是保守的。通过不同lacZ融合体的β-半乳糖苷酶活性监测,nif启动子样序列下游DNA的表达在微需氧自由生活细胞和根瘤中均依赖于功能性nifA基因。该DNA区域中单个转座子Tn3-HoHo1插入导致结瘤竞争力降低。这个新的共生区域占据了pRmeGR4b DNA约5千碱基,被称为nfe(结瘤形成效率)。