title: Nitrogen assimilation in Corynebacterium diphtheriae: pathways and regulatory cascades.
abstract: Genes encoding proteins for ammonium uptake, assimilation, and the nitrogen regulatory system in Corynebacterium diphtheriae were studied on basis of homology searches using Corynebacterium glutamicum genes as query sequences. Regulation of transcription of these genes in response to nitrogen starvation was analyzed by RNA hybridization experiments and knock-out mutants were generated to verify the function of distinct genes. In this communication, we were able to identify the key components of ammonium assimilation pathways and nitrogen regulation in C. diphtheriae. Moreover, we show in this study that molecular biology methods and vectors developed for C. glutamicum can be applied in C. diphtheriae. The results obtained strengthens the role of C. glutamicum as a model organism for mycolic acids-containing actinomycetes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, University of Cologny, Zülpicher-Str. 47, D-50674 Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nolden
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beckers
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burkovski
mesh_terms: D003353:Corynebacterium diphtheriae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000378:metabolism; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase