The Disruption of a Gene Encoding a Putative Arylesterase Impairs Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Activity and Nitrogen Fixation in Sinorhizobium meliloti

Nitrogen-fixing Sinorhizobium meliloti cells depend upon dicarboxylic acids as carbon and energy sources. The metabolism of these intermediate compounds of the tri-chloroacetic acid cycle is dependent upon the availability of acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA). In bacteroids, the combined activities of malic e...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: María José Soto, Juan Sanjuan, José Olivares
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The American Phytopathological Society 2001-06-01
Series:Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/MPMI.2001.14.6.811
Description
Summary:Nitrogen-fixing Sinorhizobium meliloti cells depend upon dicarboxylic acids as carbon and energy sources. The metabolism of these intermediate compounds of the tri-chloroacetic acid cycle is dependent upon the availability of acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA). In bacteroids, the combined activities of malic enzymes and pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) have been proposed to be responsible for the anaplerotic synthesis of acetyl-CoA. We obtained a S. meliloti mutant strain, PD3, in which a Tn5 insertion led to a significant decrease in the overall PDH activity. The genetic characterization of this mutant revealed that the transposon is located at the 3′ end of a gene (ada) encoding a putative arylesterase. The mutant PD3 is deficient in nitrogen fixation, which strengthens the physiological importance of PDH activity in the symbiosis of S. meliloti with alfalfa plants.
ISSN:0894-0282
1943-7706