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Journal of Bacteriology, May 2000, p. 2624-2628, Vol. 182, No. 9
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The GacS Sensor Kinase Regulates Alginate and
Poly-
-Hydroxybutyrate Production in Azotobacter
vinelandii
Miguel
Castañeda,
Josefina
Guzmán,
Soledad
Moreno, and
Guadalupe
Espín*
Departamento de Microbiología
Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca Morelos 62250, México
Received 11 November 1999/Accepted 14 February 2000
Azotobacter vinelandii produces two polymers: the
extracellular polysaccharide alginate and the intracellular polyester
poly-
-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). A cosmid clone (pSMU588) from an
A. vinelandii gene library diminished alginate production
by A. vinelandii mucoid strain ATCC 9046. The nucleotide
sequence and predicted amino acid sequence of the locus responsible for
the mucoidy suppression revealed 65% identity to
Pseudomonas GacS, a transmembrane sensor kinase of the
two-component regulators, whose cognate response regulator, GacA, is a
global activator regulating several products and virulence factors.
Plasmid pMC15, harboring gacS, and a strain carrying a
gacS nonpolar mutation were constructed. Either pMC15 or
the gacS mutation significantly reduced alginate production
and transcription of algD, the gene coding for the key
enzyme GDP-mannose dehydrogenase of the alginate biosynthetic pathway.
We found that the gacS mutation also reduced PHB
accumulation and impaired encystment. Taken together, these data
indicate that in A. vinelandii the gacSA global
system regulates polymer synthesis.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de
Microbiología Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnología,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apd. Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca Morelos 62250, México. Phone: 52-73-291644. Fax:
52-73-172388. E-mail: espin{at}ibt.unam.mx.
Journal of Bacteriology, May 2000, p. 2624-2628, Vol. 182, No. 9
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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