title: Structural and putative regulatory genes involved in cellulose synthesis in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii.
abstract: Six genes involved in cellulose synthesis in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii were identified using Tn5 mutagenesis. Four of them displayed homology to the previously cloned and sequenced Agrobacterium tumefaciens cellulose genes celA, celB, celC and celE. These genes are organized similarly in R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii. In addition, there were strong indications that two tandemly located genes, celR1 and celR2, probably organized as one operon, are involved in the regulation of cellulose synthesis. The deduced amino acid sequences of these genes displayed a high degree of similarity to the Caulobacter crescentus DivK and PleD proteins that belong to the family of two-component response regulators. This is to our knowledge the first report of genes involved in the regulation of cellulose synthesis. Results from attachment assays and electron microscopic studies indicated that cellulose synthesis in R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii is induced upon close contact with plant roots during the attachment process.
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Department of Microbiology, Box 7025, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ausmees
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Department of Microbiology, Box 7025, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.affiliation: Uppsala University, Department of Biochemistry, Box 576, S-75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Höglund
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Department of Microbiology, Box 7025, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ljunggren
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Department of Microbiology, Box 7025, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindberg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002482:Cellulose / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000382:microbiology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D016961:Rhizobium leguminosarum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D002482:Cellulose