The nitrate-sensing NasST system regulates nitrous oxide reductase and periplasmic nitrate reductase in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Sánchez, C., Itakura, M., Okubo, T., Matsumoto, T., Yoshikawa, H., Gotoh, A., Hidaka, M., Uchida, T., & Minamisawa, K. Environmental Microbiology, 2014.
The nitrate-sensing NasST system regulates nitrous oxide reductase and periplasmic nitrate reductase in Bradyrhizobium japonicum [pdf]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
© 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Summary: The soybean endosymbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum is able to scavenge the greenhouse gas N 2 O through the N 2 O reductase (Nos). In previous research, N 2 O emission from soybean rhizosphere was mitigated by B.japonicumNos ++ strains (mutants with increased Nos activity). Here, we report the mechanism underlying the Nos ++ phenotype. Comparative analysis of Nos ++ mutant genomes showed that mutation of bll4572 resulted in Nos ++ phenotype. bll4572 encodes NasS, the nitrate (NO 3 - )-sensor of the two-component NasST regulatory system. Transcriptional analyses of nosZ (encoding Nos) and other genes from the denitrification process in nasS and nasST mutants showed that, in the absence of NO 3 - , nasS mutation induces nosZ and nap (periplasmic nitrate reductase) via nasT. NO 3 - addition dissociated the NasS-NasT complex in vitro, suggesting the release of the activator NasT. Disruption of nasT led to a marked decrease in nosZ and nap transcription in cells incubated in the presence of NO 3 - . Thus, although NasST is known to regulate the NO 3 - -mediated response of NO 3 - assimilation genes in bacteria, our results show that NasST regulates the NO 3 - -mediated response of nosZ and napE genes, from the dissimilatory denitrification pathway, in B.japonicum.

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