title: The patA gene product, which contains a region similar to CheY of Escherichia coli, controls heterocyst pattern formation in the cyanobacterium Anabaena 7120.
abstract: In Anabaena 7120, heterocysts (cells specialized for nitrogen fixation) develop at the ends of filaments and at intervals within each filament. We have isolated a mutant Anabaena strain that develops heterocysts mostly at the ends of filaments. This mutant, PAT-1, grows poorly under nitrogen-fixing conditions. The wild-type gene that complements the mutation in PAT-1, called patA, was cloned and sequenced. The predicted PatA protein contains 379 amino acids distributed among three "domains" based on predictions of hydropathy and flexibility. The carboxyl-terminal domain is very similar to that of CheY and other response regulators in two-component regulatory systems in eubacteria. The patA mutation suppresses the multiheterocyst phenotype produced by extra copies of the wild-type hetR gene described previously, suggesting that PatA and HetR are components of the same environment-sensing regulatory circuit in Anabaena.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, IL 60637.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scappino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haselkorn
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017033:Anabaena / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003360:Cosmids; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; C000607606:cheY protein, E coli; C075180:PatA protein, Anabaena