Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1996
Publication Title
Journal of Bacteriology
Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Iron is important in the symbiosis between soybean and its nitrogen-fixing endosymbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum, yet little is known about rhizobial iron acquisition strategies. Analysis of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) from B. japonicum 61A152 identified three iron-regulated OMPs in the size range of several known receptors for Fe(III)-scavenging siderophores. One of the iron-regulated proteins, FegA, was purified and microsequenced, and a reverse genetics approach was used to clone a fegA-containing DNA fragment. Sequencing of this fragment revealed a single open reading frame of 750 amino acids. A putative N-terminal signal sequence of 14 amino acids which would result in a mature protein of 736 amino acids with a molecular mass of 80,851 Da was predicted. FegA shares significant amino acid similarity with several Fe(III)-siderophore receptors from gram-negative bacteria and has greater than 50% amino acid similarity and 33% amino acid identity with two [corrected] bacterial receptors for hydroxamate-type Fe(III)-siderophores. A dendrogram describing total inferred sequence similarity among 36 TonB-dependent OMPs was constructed; FegA grouped with Fe(III)-hydroxamate receptors. The transcriptional start site of fegA was mapped by primer extension analysis, and a putative Fur-binding site was found in the promoter. Primer extension and RNA slot blot analysis demonstrated that fegA was expressed only in cells grown under iron-limiting conditions. This is the first report of the cloning of a gene encoding a putative Fe(III)-siderophore receptor from nitrogen-fixing rhizobia.
Original Citation
LeVier K, Guerinot ML. The Bradyrhizobium japonicum fegA gene encodes an iron-regulated outer membrane protein with similarity to hydroxamate-type siderophore receptors. Journal of Bacteriology. 1996 Dec;178(24):7265-7275. DOI: 10.1128/jb.178.24.7265-7275.1996.
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
LeVier, Kristin and Guerinot, Mary Lou, "The Bradyrhizobium Japonicum fegA Gene Encodes an Iron-Regulated Outer Membrane Protein with Similarity to Hydroxamate-Type Siderophore Receptors." (1996). Dartmouth Scholarship. 1420.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/1420
