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J. Bacteriol., Mar 1997, 1828-1831, Vol 179, No. 5
ND King and MR O'Brian
The heme precursor delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is taken up by the
dipeptide permease (Dpp) system in Escherichia coli. In this study, we
identified a Bradyrhizobium japonicum genomic library clone that
complemented both ALA and dipeptide uptake activities in E. coli dpp
mutants. The complementing B. japonicum DNA encoded a product with 58%
identity to the E. coli global transcriptional regulator Lrp (leucine-
responsive regulatory protein), implying the presence of Dpp- independent
ALA uptake activity in those cells. Data support the conclusion that the
Lrp homolog induced the oligopeptide permease system in the complemented
cells by interfering with the repressor activity of the endogenous Lrp,
thus conferring oligopeptide and ALA uptake activities. ALA uptake by B.
japonicum was effectively inhibited by a tripeptide and, to a lesser
extent, by a dipeptide, and a mutant strain that expressed the lrp homolog
from a constitutive promoter was deficient in ALA uptake activity. The data
show that Lrp negatively affects ALA uptake in E. coli and B. japonicum.
Furthermore, the product of the isolated B. japonicum gene is both a
functional and structural homolog of E. coli Lrp, and thus the regulator is
not restricted to enteric bacteria.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Identification of the lrp gene in Bradyrhizobium japonicum and its role in regulation of delta-aminolevulinic acid uptake
Department of Biochemistry, Center for Advanced Molecular Biology and Immunology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14214, USA.
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