Cellular Responses during Morphological Transformation in 'Azospirillum brasilense' and Its flcA Knockout Mutant

Title
Cellular Responses during Morphological Transformation in 'Azospirillum brasilense' and Its flcA Knockout Mutant
Publication Date
2014
Author(s)
Hou, Xingsheng
McMillan, Mary
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2336-3985
Email: mrookle2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:mrookle2
Coumans-Moens, Joelle
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6642-5202
Email: jmoensco@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jmoensco
Poljak, Anne
Raftery, Mark
Pereg, Lily
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0114435
UNE publication id
une:16667
Abstract
FlcA is a response regulator controlling flocculation and the morphological transformation of 'Azospirillum' cells from vegetative to cyst-like forms. To understand the cellular responses of 'Azospirillum' to conditions that cause morphological transformation, proteins differentially expressed under flocculation conditions in 'A. brasilense' Sp7 and its flcA knockout mutant were investigated. Comparison of 2-DE protein profiles of wild-type (Sp7) and a flcA deletion mutant (Sp7-flcAΔ) revealed a total of 33 differentially expressed 2-DE gel spots, with 22 of these spots confidently separated to allow protein identification. Analysis of these spots by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and MASCOT database searching identified 48 proteins (≥10% emPAI in each spot). The functional characteristics of these proteins included carbon metabolism (beta-ketothiolase and citrate synthase), nitrogen metabolism (Glutamine synthetase and nitric oxide synthase), stress tolerance (superoxide dismutase, Alkyl hydroperoxidase and ATP-dependent Clp protease proteolytic subunit) and morphological transformation (transducer coupling protein). The observed differences between Sp7 wild-type and flcA⁻ strains enhance our understanding of the morphological transformation process and help to explain previous phenotypical observations. This work is a step forward in connecting the Azospirillum phenome and genome.
Link
Citation
PLoS One, 9(12), p. 1-25
ISSN
1932-6203
Start page
1
End page
25

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