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Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 3949-3955, Vol. 181, No. 13
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Interaction of Azospirillum lipoferum with Wheat Germ Agglutinin Stimulates Nitrogen Fixation

Eva Karpati,1,* Peter Kiss,2 Tamas Ponyi,1 Istvan Fendrik,3 Miklos de Zamaroczy,4 and Laszlo Orosz1,5

Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics1 and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,2 Gödöllo University of Agricultural Sciences, 2103 Gödöllo, and Institute of Molecular Genetics, Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, 2101 Gödöllo,5 Hungary; Institut für Biophysik, Universität Hannover, 30419 Hannover, Germany3; and Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (CNRS UPR 9073), 75005 Paris, France4

Received 21 December 1998/Accepted 21 April 1999

In vitro, the nitrogen fixation capability of A. lipoferum is efficiently increased in the presence of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). A putative WGA-binding receptor, a 32-kDa protein, was detected in the cell capsule. The stimulatory effect required N-acetyl-D-glucosamine dimer (GlcNAcdi) terminated sugar side chains of the receptor and was dependent on the number of GlcNAcdi links involved in receptor-WGA interface. Binding to the primary sugar binding sites on WGA had a larger stimulatory effect than binding to the secondary sites. The WGA-receptor complex generated stimulus led to elevated transcription of the nifH and nifA genes and of the glnBA gene cluster but not of the glnA gene from its own promoter. There may well be a signalling cascade contributing to the regulation of nitrogen fixation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics, Gödöllo University of Agricultural Sciences, H-2103 Gödöllo, Hungary. Phone: (36) 28 522 910. Fax: (36) 28 410 804. E-mail: karpati{at}spike.fa.gau.hu.

Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 3949-3955, Vol. 181, No. 13
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.




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