title: The glnA gene of the cyanobacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum PR-6 is nonessential for ammonium assimilation.
abstract: The glnA gene of the cyanobacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum PR-6 (Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002) was isolated by complementing an Escherichia coli strain auxotrophic for glutamine (YMC11) with a PR-6 cosmid library. PR-6 glnA is a single-copy gene that encodes a deduced amino acid sequence that is highly homologous to the deduced glnA amino acid sequences reported for other bacteria. No homology was found between the PR-6 glnA flanking sequences and the ntrB, ntrC, or glnB genes of other bacteria. Northern (RNA) and primer extension analyses of PR-6 RNA revealed one predominant and several minor glnA transcripts of about 1.5 to 1.7 kb. The steady-state amounts of these transcripts increased three- to fivefold when the cells were starved for nitrogen. However, we found that mutant PR-6 cells lacking glnA were still able to use nitrate or ammonium as a sole nitrogen source. Although no RNA homologous to an internal fragment of the glnA gene could be detected in the mutant cells, they retained about 60% of wild-type glutamine biosynthetic activity. The mutant cells were more sensitive than the wild-type cells to methionine sulfoximine, a transition state analog of glutamate, a result that might indicate the presence of an additional glutamine synthetase; however, cell extracts of wild-type PR-6 cells and those lacking glnA were both able to use carbamyl phosphate instead of ammonium as a nitrogen donor for the synthesis of glutamine, a result that indicates the use of carbamyl phosphate synthetase to assimilate ammonium and produce glutamine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D015870:Gene Expression; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000235:genetics*; D005973:Glutamine / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D005973:Glutamine; D000641:Ammonia; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase