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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2005, p. 2326-2331, Vol. 187, No. 7
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.7.2326-2331.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120 Gene devH Is Required for Synthesis of the Heterocyst Glycolipid Layer

Martha E. Ramírez,1 Pratibha B. Hebbar,1,{dagger} Ruanbao Zhou,2,{ddagger} C. Peter Wolk,2 and Stephanie E. Curtis1*

Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina,1 MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan2

Received 8 July 2004/ Accepted 3 January 2005

In response to deprivation for fixed nitrogen, the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 provides a microoxic intracellular environment for nitrogen fixation through the differentiation of semiregularly spaced vegetative cells into specialized cells called heterocysts. The devH gene is induced during heterocyst development and encodes a product with characteristics of a trans-acting regulatory protein. A devH mutant forms morphologically distinguishable heterocysts but is Fox–, incapable of nitrogen fixation in the presence of oxygen. We demonstrate that rearrangements of nitrogen fixation genes take place normally in the devH mutant and that it is Fix+, i.e., has nitrogenase activity under anoxic conditions. The Fox– phenotype was shown by ultrastructural studies to be associated with the absence of the glycolipid layer of the heterocyst envelope. The expression of glycolipid biosynthetic genes in the mutant is greatly reduced, and heterocyst glycolipids are undetectable.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Box 7614, Raleigh, NC 27695-7614. Phone: (919) 515-5747. Fax: (919) 515-3355. E-mail: securtis{at}ncsu.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.

{ddagger} Permanent address: College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui 241000, People's Republic of China.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2005, p. 2326-2331, Vol. 187, No. 7
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.7.2326-2331.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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