title: Exopolysaccharide synthesis in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii is related to various metabolic pathways.
abstract: Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii synthesizes extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) that is postulated to be a biologically active signalling molecule in clover symbiosis. A group of seven exopolysaccharide-deficient (Exo), non-nitrogen-fixing mutants of R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii strain 24.1 isolated by transposon mutagenesis were complemented to mucoid phenotype by a low-copy plasmid carrying the pssA gene encoding the first glucosyl-IP-transferase. Some of these mutants were not corrected in their symbiotic defect by the pssA gene. Precise localization of Tn5 insertion sites by subcloning and sequencing the adjacent genomic DNA in the Exo mutants identified the disrupted genes and their possible functions. Only one mutant (Rt74) was mutated in pssA gene; others were mutated in diverse genes that were not directly involved in EPS biosynthesis. The suppression of EPS deficiency in these mutants by additional copies of pssA indicated a possible connection between exopolysaccharide biosynthesis and various metabolic pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Microbiology, M. Curie-Sklodowska University, Akademicka 19 st., 20-033 Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janczarek
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skorupska
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016695:Glycosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D016961:Rhizobium leguminosarum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013489:Suppression, Genetic; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D007501:Iron; D016695:Glycosyltransferases; C412464:PssA protein, Rhizobium leguminosarum