Abstract
The glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) gene of Escherichia coli was transferred into an ammonium assimilation deficient mutant (Asm-) of Rhizobium japonicum (CJ9) using plasmid pRP301, a broad host range derivative of RP4. Exconjugants capable of growth on ammonia as sole N-source occurred at a frequency of 6.8×10-6. Assimilatory GDH (NADP+) activity was detected in the strain carrying the E. coli gdh gene and the pattern of ammonia assimilation via GDH was similar to that of the Asm+ wild type strain. However, GDH mediated ammonia assimilation was not subject to regulation by l-glutamate. Nitrogenase activity was expressed ex planta in R. japonicum CJ9 harbouring the gdh gene, however, the presence of the gdh gene did not restore symbiotic effectiveness to the CJ9 Asm- strain in nodules. The gdh plasmid was maintained in approximately 90% of the isolates recovered from soybean nodules.
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Abbreviations
- gdh :
-
glutamate dehydrogenase
- Asm- mutant:
-
ammonia assimilation deficient mutant
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Lane, M., Meade, J., Manian, S.S. et al. Expression and regulation of the Escherichia coli glutamate dehydrogenase gene (gdh) in Rhizobium japonicum . Arch. Microbiol. 144, 29–34 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00454952
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00454952