title: Role of GOGAT in carbon and nitrogen partitioning in Rhizobium etli.
abstract: The isolation and characterization of a Rhizobium etli glutamate auxotroph, TAD12, harbouring a single Tn5 insertion, is reported. This mutant produced no detectable glutamate synthase (GOGAT) activity. The cloning and physical characterization of a 7.2 kb fragment of R. etli DNA harbouring the structural genes gltB and gltD encoding the two GOGAT subunits GltB and GltD is also reported. In comparison with the wild-type strain (CFN42), the GOGAT mutant strain utilized less succinate and glutamate and grew less with this and other amino acids as nitrogen source. R. etli assimilates ammonium by the glutamine synthetase (GS)-GOGAT pathway and a GOGAT mutant prevents the cycling of glutamine by this pathway, something that impairs nitrogen and carbon metabolism and explains the decrease in the amino-nitrogen during exponential growth, with glutamate as nitrogen source. GOGAT activity also has a role in ammonium turnover and in the synthesis of amino acids and proteins, processes that are necessary to sustain cell viability in non-growing conditions. The assimilation of ammonium is important during symbiosis and glutamate constitutes 20-40% of the total amino-nitrogen. In symbiosis, the blockage of ammonium assimilation by a GOGAT mutation significantly decreases the amino-nitrogen pool of the bacteroids and may explain why more N(2) is fixed in ammonium, excreted to the plant cell, transported to the leaves and stored in the seeds.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Hermenegildo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taboada
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valderrama
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Encarnación
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno, Programa de Ingenierı́a Metabólica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62271, Mexico1.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mora
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D005970:Glutamate Synthase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D019802:Succinic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D002244:Carbon; D019802:Succinic Acid; D005970:Glutamate Synthase; D009584:Nitrogen