Nucleotide sequence and expression of the glutamine synthetase structural gene, glnA, of the archaebacterium Methanococcus voltae.

The sequence of a 2,746-bp DNA fragment of Methanococcus voltae carrying the glnA gene for glutamine synthetase (GS), was established. A 1,338-bp open reading frame (ORF), encoding a 446-amino-acid polypeptide of 50,142 Da, was defined as glnA on the basis of its similarity to other glnA genes and on the ability of a DNA fragment carrying this ORF to complement an Escherichia coli Gln- mutant. No sequence homology was found between sequences flanking the M. volae glnA gene and other eubacterial glnA genes. In M. voltae, the gene was transcribed as a monocistronic unit and GS synthesis was partially repressed at high ammonia concentrations. At the amino acid sequence level, the highest similarity was found with GS of Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium acetobutylicum.