title: Emergence of a laccase-positive variant of Azospirillum lipoferum occurs via a two-step phenotypic switching process.
abstract: Two variants have been isolated from the wild-type Azospirillum lipoferum strain 4B. The first variant, 4V(I), spontaneously emerged from the wild-type at frequencies in the order of 10(-4) to 10(-3) per cell generation. Compared to the wild-type, the 4V(I) variant gained (production of a carotenoid-like pigment, assimilation of certain carbohydrates) and lost (swimming motility, reduction of triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, acid production from certain sugars) apparently unrelated phenotypic characteristics. Only from the 4V(I) variant, a second atypical stable form, variant 4V(II), which acquired laccase activity and ability to produce melanin, appeared under very specific conditions, namely growth at extremely low oxygen concentrations. Neither of the variants was able to revert to the parental phenotype. The results suggest that atypical non-motile laccase-positive isolates of A. lipoferum that are found in the rice rhizosphere originate from wild-type (motile, laccase-negative) cells via a two-step phenotypic switching event, a non-motile laccase-negative variant being an intermediate phase.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne du Sol, UMR CNRS 5557, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France. galexandre@som.llu.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alexandre
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bally
mesh_terms: D016949:Azospirillum / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D042845:Laccase; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D042845:Laccase