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Volume 147, Issue 5

The operon on the acquired symbiosis island of sp. strain R7A includes a novel gene involved in pimeloyl-CoA synthesis

The GenBank accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is AF311738.

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Abstract

The symbiosis island of sp. strain R7A is a 500 kb chromosomal genetic element that upon transfer converts nonsymbiotic mesorhizobia to symbionts able to nodulate and fix nitrogen with . Four genomic species of nonsymbiotic mesorhizobia have been isolated. All were auxotrophic for thiamin and biotin and three were auxotrophic for nicotinate, whereas derivatives of the strains containing the symbiosis island were prototrophic for all three vitamins. In this work, a 132 kb region of the island that converts the nonsymbionts to nicotinate and biotin prototrophy was characterized. The region contained orthologues of the and genes arranged in an operon with a novel gene, , a operon, the nitrogen-fixation regulatory gene , and a homologue of the pantothenate biosynthesis gene . The gene product was similar toβ-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase III (FabH). ::Tn mutants grew poorly in the absence of biotin and the gene complemented an mutant, suggesting that its product is involved in the synthesis of pimeloyl-CoA. The operon was not required for symbiosis, as only mutants in the gene were impaired in symbiosis, and a ::Tn mutant was not impaired in rhizosphere colonization. The rationale for the vitamin biosynthetic loci being located on an acquired genetic element that is absent from nonsymbiotic mesorhizobia remains to be determined.

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Keyword(s): NMN, nicotinic acid mononucleotide , biotin biosynthesis , horizontal gene transfer and β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase III
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2001-05-01
2024-04-18
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The bio operon on the acquired symbiosis island of Mesorhizobium sp. strain R7A includes a novel gene involved in pimeloyl-CoA synthesisThe GenBank accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is AF311738.
Microbiology 147, 1315 (2001); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-147-5-1315
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-147-5-1315
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