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Volume 159, Issue Pt_1

Genetics of germination-arrest factor (GAF) production by WH6: identification of a gene cluster essential for GAF biosynthesis Free

Abstract

The genetic basis of the biosynthesis of the germination-arrest factor (GAF) produced by WH6, and previously identified as 4-formylaminooxyvinylglycine, has been investigated here. In addition to inhibiting the germination of a wide range of grassy weeds, GAF exhibits a selective antimicrobial activity against the bacterial plant pathogen . We utilized the response of to GAF as a rapid screen for loss-of-function GAF phenotypes generated by transposon mutagenesis. A Tn mutant library consisting of 6364 WH6 transformants was screened in this assay, resulting in the identification of 18 non-redundant transposon insertion sites that led to loss of GAF production in WH6, as confirmed by TLC analysis. These insertions mapped to five different genes and four intergenic regions. Three of these genes, including two putative regulatory genes ( and homologues), were clustered in a 13 kb chromosomal region containing 13 putative ORFs. A GAF mutation identified previously as affecting an aminotransferase also maps to this region. We suggest that three of the genes in this region (a carbamoyltransferase, an aminotransferase and a formyltransferase) encode the enzymes necessary to synthesize dihydroGAF, the putative immediate precursor of GAF in a proposed GAF biosynthetic pathway. RT-qPCR analyses demonstrated that mutations in the and regulatory genes, as well as in a homologue identified earlier as controlling GAF formation, suppressed transcription of at least two of the putative GAF biosynthetic genes (encoding the aminotransferase and formyltransferase) located in this 13 kb region.

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2013-01-01
2024-04-19
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Genetics of germination-arrest factor (GAF) production by Pseudomonas fluorescens WH6: identification of a gene cluster essential for GAF biosynthesis
Microbiology 159, 36 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.062166-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.062166-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.062166-0
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