Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Bacteriology, October 1998, p. 5413-5420, Vol. 180, No. 20
Programa Multidisciplinario de
Biología Experimental (PROMUBIE), National University of
Rosario and CONICET, RA2000 Rosario,
Argentina,1 and
Institut für Mikro
und Molekularbiologie, Justus-Liebig Universität, D-35392
Giessen, Germany2
Received 24 March 1998/Accepted 12 August 1998
Genetic complementation of a sodA sodB Escherichia coli
mutant strain was used to clone Rhodobacter capsulatus
genes involved in detoxification of superoxide radicals. After sequence
analysis, 1 of the 16 identical clones obtained by this selection
procedure was shown to contain an open reading frame with sequence
similarity to that coding for Fe-containing superoxide dismutases
(SodB). The R. capsulatus sodB gene was expressed in
E. coli, and the nature of the metal ligand was confirmed
by inhibitor sensitivity assays with lysates from both bacterial
species. Activity staining of cleared Rhodobacter lysates
resolved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that SodB was
the only superoxide dismutase present in this phototrophic organism.
The sodB gene was expressed at low levels in R. capsulatus cells grown under anaerobic or semiaerobic conditions,
but expression was strongly induced upon exposure of the bacteria to
air or to methyl viologen. Attempts to construct a sodB
mutant in this organism by allelic exchange of the chromosomal copy of
the gene with a suicide plasmid containing a mutated sodB
gene were unsuccessful, strongly suggesting that the encoded superoxide
dismutase is essential for viability of R. capsulatus in
aerobic cultures.
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Molecular Cloning and Expression Analysis of
the Rhodobacter capsulatus sodB Gene, Encoding an
Iron Superoxide Dismutase
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: PROMUBIE, Area
Biología Molecular, Facultad de Cs. Bioquímicas y
Farmacéuticas, U.N.R., Suipacha 531, RA2000 Rosario, Argentina.
Phone: (54) (41) 350661/350596. Fax: (54) (41) 390465. E-mail:
cortez{at}arnet.com.ar.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»