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Volume 168, Issue 1

A Tar aspartate receptor and Rubisco-like protein substitute biotin in the growth of rhizobial strains Open Access

Abstract

Biotin is a key cofactor of metabolic carboxylases, although many rhizobial strains are biotin auxotrophs. When some of these strains were serially subcultured in minimal medium, they showed diminished growth and increased excretion of metabolites. The addition of biotin, or genetic complementation with biotin synthesis genes resulted in full growth of CFN42 and CIAT652 strains. Half of rhizobial genomes did not show genes for biotin biosynthesis, but three-quarters had genes for biotin transport. Some strains had genes for an avidin homologue (rhizavidin), a protein with high affinity for biotin but an unknown role in bacteria. A CFN42-derived rhizavidin mutant showed a sharper growth decrease in subcultures, revealing a role in biotin storage. In the search of biotin-independent growth of subcultures, CFN42 and CIAT652 strains with excess aeration showed optimal growth, as they also did, unexpectedly, with the addition of aspartic acid analogues α- and -methyl aspartate. Aspartate analogues can be sensed by the chemotaxis aspartate receptor Tar. A homologue was identified and its mutants showed no growth recovery with aspartate analogues, indicating requirement of the Tar receptor in such a phenotype. Additionally, mutants did not recover full growth with excess aeration. A Rubisco-like protein was found to be necessary for growth as the corresponding mutants showed no recovery either with high aeration or aspartate analogues; also, diminished carboxylation was observed. Taken together, our results indicate a route of biotin-independent growth in rhizobial strains that included oxygen, a Tar receptor and a previously uncharacterized Rubisco-like protein.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): chemotaxis , metabolism , methyl-accepting proteins , nitrogen fixation , rhizobia , subcultures and vitamins
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Award PAPIIT IN201617, PAPIIT IN204320)
    • Principle Award Recipient: LourdesGirard
© 2022 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2022-01-25
2024-04-20
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A Tar aspartate receptor and Rubisco-like protein substitute biotin in the growth of rhizobial strains
Microbiology 168, 001130 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001130
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001130
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001130
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