Glutamine synthetase mutations which affect expression of nitrogen fixation genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae.
Previous studies have implicated glutamine synthetase (L-glutamate:ammonia ligase [adenosine diphosphate for-ing], EC 6.6.1.2) as a major controlling element of the nitrogen fixation (nif) genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae. We report here the isolation of a new class of K. pneumoniae mutants which exhibit altered patterns of nif and hut (histidine utlization) regulation. The expression of nif in these mutants, which were isolated as Gln+ (glutamine nonrequiring) revertants of a particular glnA mutation, is extremely sensitive to ammonia repression. These mutants have a Nif- Hut- phenotype at external ammonia concentrations at which wild-type strains are Nif+ Hut+. On the other hand, these mutants can be fully derepressed for nif at very low ammonia concentrations. We adopted the nomenclature "GlnR- (Nif- Hut-)" to facilitate discussion of the phenotype of these mutant strains. The mutations in these strains which confer the GlnR- phenotype map at or near glnA, the structural gene for glutamine synthetase.
D000641:Ammonia / Q000494:pharmacology; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000235:genetics*; D006638:Histidine Ammonia-Lyase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D009591:Nitrogenase / Q000096:biosynthesis
D000641:Ammonia; D009591:Nitrogenase; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase; D006638:Histidine Ammonia-Lyase; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase