title: Interaction of Azospirillum lipoferum with wheat germ agglutinin stimulates nitrogen fixation.
abstract: In vitro, the nitrogen fixation capability of A. lipoferum is efficiently increased in the presence of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). A putative WGA-binding receptor, a 32-kDa protein, was detected in the cell capsule. The stimulatory effect required N-acetyl-D-glucosamine dimer (GlcNAcdi) terminated sugar side chains of the receptor and was dependent on the number of GlcNAcdi links involved in receptor-WGA interface. Binding to the primary sugar binding sites on WGA had a larger stimulatory effect than binding to the secondary sites. The WGA-receptor complex generated stimulus led to elevated transcription of the nifH and nifA genes and of the glnBA gene cluster but not of the glnA gene from its own promoter. There may well be a signalling cascade contributing to the regulation of nitrogen fixation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics, Gödöllo University of Agricultural Sciences, 2103 Gödöllo, Hungary. karpati@spike.fa.gau.hu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karpati
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ponyi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fendrik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Zamaroczy
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orosz
mesh_terms: D016949:Azospirillum / Q000187:drug effects*; D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015870:Gene Expression; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000187:drug effects*; D009591:Nitrogenase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D051922:PII Nitrogen Regulatory Proteins; D011975:Receptors, Mitogen / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C061338:NifA protein, Bacteria; D051922:PII Nitrogen Regulatory Proteins; D011975:Receptors, Mitogen; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; C027503:wheat germ agglutinin receptor; C404143:PIID regulatory protein, Bacteria; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D009591:Nitrogenase; C029130:nitrogenase reductase; C081173:glutamine synthetase I; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase