Introduction of the Escherichia coli gdhA gene into Rhizobium phaseoli: effect on nitrogen fixation

Overproduction of Sinorhizobium meliloti ArgC (N-acetyl-gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase) promotes growth delay and inefficient nodules

argC encodes N-acetyl-gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase, the enzyme that catalyzes the high-energy-consuming third step in the arginine synthesis pathway. A comparative analysis revealed two translation start sites in argC from Sinorhizobium meliloti. To determine whether both protein versions are synthesized in the organism and their functional role, we obtained genetic constructs with one (1S) or two (2S) start sites, with promoters of low (pspeB) or high (plac) transcriptional rate. The constructs were transferred to the S. meliloti 1021 derivative argC mutant strain. Both protein versions were found in the free-living proteomes, but only ArgC 1S showed post-translational modification. Expression levels from argC 1S were five times higher than those of 2S, when transcribed by plac, and in concordance, its protein activity was 3-fold greater. The overexpression of both versions under plac delayed cellular growth. Inoculation of Medicago sativa plants with the S. meliloti strain harboring the argC 1S under plac induced nodulation but not nitrogen fixation. However, the strain with the argC 2S under the same promoter had a positive phenotype. Overproduction of ArgC protein for the synthesis of arginine induced physiological and symbiotic effects.

Glutamate Is Involved in Acid Stress Response in Bradyrhizobium sp. SEMIA 6144 (Arachis hypogaea L.) Microsymbiont

In the present study, the effect of acid stress on ammonium assimilation in Bradyrhizobium sp. SEMIA 6144 (Arachis hypogaea L.) microsymbiont was analyzed. The bacterial growth rate was decreased by 50%, and a significant increase in intracellular glutamate concentration was detected when the strain grew at acid pH (5.5). Assays of the enzymes involved in glutamate synthesis showed increased activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (NADPH-GOGAT) under acid stress condition. This would support the contention that the GS/NADPH-GOGAT pathway contributes to the increase of glutamate synthesis as a compatible solute in response to acid stress.

Key role of bacterial NH(4)(+) metabolism in Rhizobium-plant symbiosis

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation is carried out in specialized organs, the nodules, whose formation is induced on leguminous host plants by bacteria belonging to the family Rhizobiaceae: Nodule development is a complex multistep process, which requires continued interaction between the two partners and thus the exchange of different signals and metabolites. NH(4)(+) is not only the primary product but also the main regulator of the symbiosis: either as ammonium and after conversion into organic compounds, it regulates most stages of the interaction, from the production of nodule inducers to the growth, function, and maintenance of nodules. This review examines the adaptation of bacterial NH(4)(+) metabolism to the variable environment generated by the plant, which actively controls and restricts bacterial growth by affecting oxygen and nutrient availability, thereby allowing a proficient interaction and at the same time preventing parasitic invasion. We describe the regulatory circuitry responsible for the downregulation of bacterial genes involved in NH(4)(+) assimilation occurring early during nodule invasion. This is a key and necessary step for the differentiation of N(2)-fixing bacteroids (the endocellular symbiotic form of rhizobia) and for the development of efficient nodules.

The Rhizobium GstI protein reduces the NH4+ assimilation capacity of Rhizobium leguminosarum

We show that the protein encoded by the glutamine synthetase translational inhibitor (gstI) gene reduces the NH4+ assimilation capacity of Rhizobium leguminosarum. In this organism, gstI expression is regulated by the ntr system, including the PII protein, as a function of the nitrogen (N) status of the cells. The GstI protein, when expressed from an inducible promoter, inhibits glutamine synthetase II (glnII) expression under all N conditions tested. The induction of gstI affects the growth of a glutamine synthetase I (glnA-) strain and a single amino acid substitution (W48D) results in the complete loss of GstI function. During symbiosis, gstI is expressed in young differentiating symbiosomes (SBs) but not in differentiated N2-fixing SBs. In young SBs, the PII protein modulates the transcription of NtrC-regulated genes such as gstI and glnII. The evidence presented herein strengthens the idea that the endocytosis of bacteria inside the cytoplasm of the host cells is a key step in the regulation of NH4+ metabolism.

Glutamine biosynthesis and the utilization of succinate and glutamine by Rhizobium etli and Sinorhizobium meliloti

Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 and Rhizobium etli CE3 turn over nitrogen and carbon from glutamine to ammonium and CO2, respectively. Some of the ammonium released is assimilated back into glutamine, indicating that a glutamine cycle similar to that in Neurospora operates in Rhizobium. In addition, a previously unrecognized metabolic pathway in Rhizobium was discovered--namely, conversion of glutamine-carbon to gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid. Additionally, some of the 2-oxoglutarate derived from glutamine catabolism in Rhizobium is converted to succinate in glutamine-containing medium. Both S. meliloti 1021 and R. etli CE3 oxidize succinate preferentially over glutamine when provided with both carbon sources. In contrast to Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 and Rhizobium etli CE3, an S. meliloti double mutant that lacks both glutamine synthetase (GS) I and II preferentially oxidizes glutamine over succinate when supplied with both substrates. GSII activity is induced in wild-type S. meliloti 1021 and R. etli CE3 grown in succinate-glutamine medium, and this enzyme participates in the cycling of glutamine-carbon and -nitrogen. On the other hand, GSII activity is repressed in both micro-organisms when glutamine is the only carbon source. These findings show that, in medium containing both glutamine and succinate, glutamine synthesis helps drive the utilization of succinate. When glutamine is in excess as an energy-providing substrate its synthesis is restricted, allowing for more effective utilization of glutamine as an energy source.

NifA-dependent expression of glutamate dehydrogenase in Rhizobium etli modifies nitrogen partitioning during symbiosis

Constitutive expression of foreign glutamate dehydrogenase in Rhizobium etli inhibits bean plant nodulation (A. Mendoza, A. Leija, E. Martínez-Romero, G. Hernández, and J. Mora. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 8:584-592, 1995). Here we report that this inhibition is overcome when controlling gdhA expression by NifA, thus delaying the GDH activity onset after nodule establishment. Expression of gdhA modifies the nitrogen partitioning inside the bacteroid, where newly synthesized ammonia is preferentially incorporated into the amino acid pool instead of being exported to the infected cells. As a consequence, the fixed nitrogen transport to the leaves, measured as the ureides content in xylem sap, is significantly reduced. Nitrogenase activity, although not nifHDK expression, is significantly reduced in bacteroids expressing gdhA, probably due to the utilization of energy and reducing power for nitrogen assimilation. Here we show that ammonia assimilation inside R. etli bacteroids is active, albeit at low levels, and when enhanced is deleterious to the symbiotic performance. This leads us to believe that further reduction of the basal nitrogen metabolism in the bacteroid might stimulate the nitrogenase activity and increase the nitrogen supply to the plant.

Regulation of pyruvate carboxylase in Rhizobium etli

Pyruvate carboxylase (PYC) is a biotin-dependent enzyme catalyzing the anaplerotic conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate in Rhizobium etli strain CE3. A pyc::Tn5 mutant had severely reduced growth, or failed to grow on sugars, three-carbon organic acids or glycerol, consistent with these substrates being metabolized via pyruvate. Transconjugants expressing a pyc::beta-glucuronidase gene fusion had slightly increased apparent pyc transcription during growth on pyruvate as compared to succinate, similar to the modest carbon source dependent changes in PYC activity reported previously. Biotin supplementation of cultures growing on pyruvate dramatically increased PYC activity but not apparent pyc transcription. Bacteroids isolated from bean nodules did not contain detectable PYC activity while apparent pyc transcription occurred at a moderate level.

The Rhizobium meliloti PII protein, which controls bacterial nitrogen metabolism, affects alfalfa nodule development

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation involves the development of specialized organs called nodules within which plant photosynthates are exchanged for combined nitrogen of bacterial origin. To determine the importance of bacterial nitrogen metabolism in symbiosis, we have characterized a key regulator of this metabolism in Rhizobium meliloti, the uridylylatable P(II) protein encoded by glnB. We have constructed both a glnB null mutant and a point mutant making nonuridylylatable P(II). In free-living conditions, P(II) is required for expression of the ntrC-dependent gene glnII and for adenylylation of glutamine synthetase I. P(II) is also required for efficient infection of alfalfa but not for expression of nitrogenase. However alfalfa plants inoculated with either glnB mutant are nitrogen-starved in the absence of added combined nitrogen. We hypothesize that P(II) controls expression or activity of a bacteroid ammonium transporter required for a functional nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. Therefore, the P(II) protein affects both Rhizobium nitrogen metabolism and alfalfa nodule development.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation does not require adenylylation of glutamine synthetase I in Rhizobium meliloti

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation is accompanied by a shift of Rhizobium nitrogen metabolism from ammonium assimilation to ammonium export, which probably involves genetic or metabolic regulation of glutamine synthetase activity. In free-living Rhizobium meliloti glutamine synthetase I (GSI) is regulated post-translationally by reversible adenylylation in response to ammonium addition. Moreover, full expression of the GSI gene glnA requires the transcriptional activator, NtrC. A glnA1 mutant synthesizing a non-adenylylatable GSI produces normal nitrogen-fixing nodules on alfalfa: GSI adenylylation is dispensable for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. This is rationalized by the observation that less GS protein is present in R. meliloti bacteroids than in free-living bacterial cells.

Pyruvate carboxylase from Rhizobium etli: mutant characterization, nucleotide sequence, and physiological role

Pyruvate carboxylase (PYC), a biotin-dependent enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate, was hypothesized to play an important anaplerotic role in the growth of Rhizobium etli during serial subcultivation in minimal media containing succinate (S. Encarnación, M. Dunn, K. Willms, and J. Mora, J. Bacteriol. 177:3058-3066, 1995). R. etli and R. tropici pyc::Tn5-mob mutants were selected for their inability to grow in minimal medium with pyruvate as a sole carbon source. During serial subcultivation in minimal medium containing 30 mM succinate, the R. etli parent and pyc mutant strains exhibited similar decreases in growth rate with each subculture. Supplementation of the medium with biotin prevented the growth decrease of the parent but not the mutant strain, indicating that PYC was necessary for the growth of R. etli under these conditions. The R. tropici pyc mutant grew normally in subcultures regardless of biotin supplementation. The symbiotic phenotypes of the pyc mutants from both species were similar to those of the parent strains. The R. etli pyc was cloned, sequenced, and found to encode a 126-kDa protein of 1,154 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence is highly homologous to other PYC sequences, and the catalytic domains involved in carboxylation, pyruvate binding, and biotinylation are conserved. The sequence and biochemical data show that the R. etli PYC is a member of the alpha4, homotetrameric, acetyl coenzyme A-activated class of PYCs.

Expression of the Escherichia coli glutamate dehydrogenase gene in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC6301 causes ammonium tolerance

The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC6301 lacks a hybridisable homologue of the strongly conserved gdhA gene of E. coli that encodes NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase. This is consistent with the failure to find this enzyme in extracts of the cyanobacterium. The E. coli gdhA gene was transferred to Synechococcus PCC6301 by transformation with an integrative vector. High levels of glutamate dehydrogenase activity, similar to those found in ammonium grown E. coli cells, were found in these transformants. These transformed cyanobacteria displayed an ammonium tolerant phenotype, consistent with the action of their acquired glutamate dehydrogenase activity as an ammonium detoxification mechanism. Minor differences in colony size and in growth at low light intensity were also observed.

Ammonium assimilation in Rhizobium phaseoli by the glutamine synthetase-glutamate synthase pathway

Evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies showed that in Rhizobium phaseoli ammonium is assimilated by the glutamine synthetase (GS)-glutamate synthase NADPH pathway. No glutamate dehydrogenase activity was detected. R. phaseoli has two GS enzymes, as do other rhizobia. The two GS activities are regulated on the basis of the requirement for low (GSI) or high (GSII) ammonium assimilation. When the 2-oxoglutarate/glutamine ratio decreases, GSI is adenylylated. When GSI is inactivated, GSII is induced. However, induction of GSII activity varied depending on the rate of change of this ratio. GSII was inactivated after the addition of high ammonium concentrations, when the 2-oxoglutarate/glutamine ratio decreased rapidly. Ammonium inactivation resulted in alteration of the catalytic and physical properties of GSII. GSII inactivation was not relieved by shifting of the cultures to glutamate. After GSII inactivation, ammonium was excreted into the medium. Glutamate synthase activity was inhibited by some organic acids and repressed when cells were grown with glutamate as the nitrogen source.