title: Role of nodl and nodJ in lipo-chitooligosaccharide secretion in Azorhizobium caulinodans and Escherichia coli.
abstract: Lipo-chitooligosaccharide (LCO) Nod factors are produced and secreted by rhizobia and trigger nodule development in leguminous host plants. The products of the bacterial nodlJ genes are related to transporters of capsular polysaccharides and were proposed to be involved in LCO transport. We have studied nodlJ of Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571 by analysis of cell-associated and secreted radioactively labelled Nod factors in wild-type ORS571, a nodJ mutant and a complemented strain. Secretion was strongly reduced in the nodJ mutant, and restored to wild-type levels after complementation. Constructs were made for expression of combinations of different nod genes in Escherichia coli DH5 alpha. The strain DH5 alpha (pUCNABCSU) synthesized LCOs, but they were only secreted when a plasmid containing both nodl and nodJ was supplied in trans. nodl or nodJ alone was not sufficient. In E. coli as well as in Azorhizobium, the nodlJ-encoded transporter showed a specificity for more hydrophilic LCOs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorium voor Genetica, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology, Universiteit Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernández-López
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: D'Haeze
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mergaert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Verplancke
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Promé
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Montagu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holsters
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002686:Chitin; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D017353:Gene Deletion; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D012230:Rhizobiaceae / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C023023:lipid-linked oligosaccharides; C065618:nodI protein, Bacteria; C083534:nodJ protein, Azorhizobium caulinodans; C068104:kpsM protein, E coli; C068103:kpsT protein, E coli; D002686:Chitin