Microbiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Microbiology 150 (2004), 2465-2474; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.26904-0
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Biondi, E. G.
Right arrow Articles by del Gallo, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Biondi, E. G.
Right arrow Articles by del Gallo, M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Biondi, E. G.
Right arrow Articles by del Gallo, M.
Microbiology 150 (2004), 2465-2474; DOI  10.1099/mic.0.26904-0
© 2004 Society for General Microbiology

Extended phenotype of an mreB-like mutant in Azospirillum brasilense

Emanuele G. Biondi1,{dagger}, Francesca Marini2, Fabio Altieri3, Laura Bonzi4, Marco Bazzicalupo1 and Maddalena del Gallo5

1 Dip. Biologia Animale e Genetica, Università di Firenze, 50125 Firenze, Italy
2 Dip. Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università della Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
3 Dip. Scienze Biochimiche, Università ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Roma, Italy
4 Dip. Biologia Vegetale, Università di Firenze, 50100 Firenze, Italy
5 Dip. Biologia di Base e Applicata, Università dell'Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy

Correspondence
Maddalena del Gallo
delgallo{at}aquila.infn.it/maddalena.delgallo@libero.it

Tn5 mutagenesis was used to generate an Azospirillum brasilense SPF94 mutant. Genetic analysis of this mutant revealed that a homologue of the mreB gene, which controls cell shape in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, was inactivated. The cell-surface properties of the mutant were different from those of the parental strain. The mutant colonies were highly fluorescent when grown on plates containing Calcofluor White. Light and electron microscopy revealed that the mutant cells were round and had thicker capsules than the spiral parental strain. The mutants contained up to ten times more capsule protein than the parental strain, but lacked a 40 kDa protein that is abundant in the parental strain. The phenotype of the isolated mutant resembled that of the cyst-like differentiated forms of Azospirillum, suggesting that the mreB homologue could be involved in differentiation.

Abbreviations: CFW, Calcofluor White; PS, polysaccharide; SEM, scanning electron microscopy

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the A. brasilense mreB-like gene sequence reported in this paper is AF438483.

{dagger}Present address: Bauer Center for Genomics Research, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Ave, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Appl. Environ. Microbiol.Home page
M. T. Cohn, H. Ingmer, F. Mulholland, K. Jorgensen, J. M. Wells, and L. Brondsted
Contribution of Conserved ATP-Dependent Proteases of Campylobacter jejuni to Stress Tolerance and Virulence
Appl. Envir. Microbiol., December 15, 2007; 73(24): 7803 - 7813.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL
J MED MICROBIOL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2004 Society for General Microbiology.