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Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 3003-3009, Vol. 181, No. 10
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Growth of Azospirillum irakense KBC1 on the Aryl -Glucoside Salicin Requires either salA or salB

Denis Faure,^1, Jos Desair,¹ Veerle Keijers,¹ My Ali Bekri,¹ Paul Proost,² Bernard Henrissat,³ and Jos Vanderleyden^1,*

F. A. Janssens Laboratory of Genetics, K. U. Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee,¹ and Rega Institute for Medical Research, K. U. Leuven, B-3000 Leuven,² Belgium, and Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, CNRS, F-13402 Marseille cedex 20, France³

Received 22 December 1998/Accepted 4 March 1999

The rhizosphere nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum irakense KBC1 is able to grow on pectin and -glucosides such as cellobiose, arbutin, and salicin. Two adjacent genes, salA and salB, conferring -glucosidase activity to Escherichia coli, have been identified in a cosmid library of A. irakense DNA. The SalA and SalB enzymes preferentially hydrolyzed aryl -glucosides. A (salA-salB) A. irakense mutant was not able to grow on salicin but could still utilize arbutin, cellobiose, and glucose for growth. This mutant could be complemented by either salA or salB, suggesting functional redundancy of these genes in salicin utilization. In contrast to this functional homology, the SalA and SalB proteins, members of family 3 of the glycosyl hydrolases, show a low degree of amino acid similarity. Unlike SalA, the SalB protein exhibits an atypical truncated C-terminal region. We propose that SalA and SalB are representatives of the AB and AB' subfamilies, respectively, in glycosyl hydrolase family 3. This is the first genetic implication of this -glucosidase family in the utilization of -glucosides for microbial growth.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: F. A. Janssens Laboratory of Genetics, K. U. Leuven, K. Mercierlaan 92, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium. Phone: (32) 16 32 16 31. Fax: (32) 16 32 19 66. E-mail: jozef.vanderleyden{at}agr.kuleuven.ac.be.

Present address: Laboratoire de Génomique Bactérienne, CNRS-Université Joseph Fourier, F-38041 Grenoble cedex 9, France.

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Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 3003-3009, Vol. 181, No. 10
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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