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
Services
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 arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Boncompagni, E.
Right arrow Articles by le Rudulier, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Boncompagni, E.
Right arrow Articles by le Rudulier, D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Boncompagni, E.
Right arrow Articles by le Rudulier, D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1999, p. 2072-2077, Vol. 65, No. 5
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Occurrence of Choline and Glycine Betaine Uptake and Metabolism in the Family Rhizobiaceae and Their Roles in Osmoprotection

Eric Boncompagni,dagger Magne Østerås,Dagger Marie-Christine Poggi, and Daniel le Rudulier*

Laboratoire de Biologie Végétale et Microbiologie, CNRS ERS 590, Université de Nice---Sophia Antipolis, 06108 Nice Cédex, France

Received 22 December 1998/Accepted 18 February 1999

The role of glycine betaine and choline in osmoprotection of various Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Agrobacterium, and Bradyrhizobium reference strains which display a large variation in salt tolerance was investigated. When externally provided, both compounds enhanced the growth of Rhizobium tropici, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Sinorhizobium fredii, Rhizobium galegae, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Mesorhizobium loti, and Mesorhizobium huakuii, demonstrating their utilization as osmoprotectants. However, both compounds were inefficient for the most salt-sensitive strains, such as Rhizobium leguminosarum (all biovars), Agrobacterium rhizogenes, Rhizobium etli, and Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Except for B. japonicum, all strains exhibit transport activity for glycine betaine and choline. When the medium osmolarity was raised, choline uptake activity was inhibited, whereas glycine betaine uptake was either increased in R. leguminosarum and S. meliloti or, more surprisingly, reduced in R. tropici, S. fredii, and M. loti. The transport of glycine betaine was increased by growing the cells in the presence of the substrate. With the exception of B. japonicum, all strains were able to use glycine betaine and choline as sole carbon and nitrogen sources. This catabolic function, reported for only a few soil bacteria, could increase competitiveness of rhizobial species in the rhizosphere. Choline dehydrogenase and betaine-aldehyde dehydrogenase activities were present in the cells of all strains with the exception of M. huakuii and B. japonicum. The main physiological role of glycine betaine in the family Rhizobiaceae seems to be as an energy source, while its contribution to osmoprotection is restricted to certain strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Biologie végétale et Microbiologie, CNRS ERS 590, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cédex, France. Phone: (33) 492 07 68 34. Fax: (33) 492 07 68 38. E-mail: leruduli{at}unice.fr.

dagger Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755.

Dagger Present address: Biozentrum, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1999, p. 2072-2077, Vol. 65, No. 5
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Itakura, M., Tabata, K., Eda, S., Mitsui, H., Murakami, K., Yasuda, J., Minamisawa, K. (2008). Generation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum Mutants with Increased N2O Reductase Activity by Selection after Introduction of a Mutated dnaQ Gene. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 7258-7264 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wargo, M. J., Szwergold, B. S., Hogan, D. A. (2008). Identification of Two Gene Clusters and a Transcriptional Regulator Required for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Glycine Betaine Catabolism. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2690-2699 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hacker, S., Sohlenkamp, C., Aktas, M., Geiger, O., Narberhaus, F. (2008). Multiple Phospholipid N-Methyltransferases with Distinct Substrate Specificities Are Encoded in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. J. Bacteriol. 190: 571-580 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, C., Beattie, G. A. (2007). Characterization of the Osmoprotectant Transporter OpuC from Pseudomonas syringae and Demonstration that Cystathionine-{beta}-Synthase Domains Are Required for Its Osmoregulatory Function. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6901-6912 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vriezen, J. A. C., de Bruijn, F. J., Nusslein, K. (2007). Responses of Rhizobia to Desiccation in Relation to Osmotic Stress, Oxygen, and Temperature. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 3451-3459 [Full Text]  
  • McCallum, N., Karauzum, H., Getzmann, R., Bischoff, M., Majcherczyk, P., Berger-Bachi, B., Landmann, R. (2006). In Vivo Survival of Teicoplanin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Fitness Cost of Teicoplanin Resistance.. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 2352-2360 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ferreira, N. L., Labbe, D., Monot, F., Fayolle-Guichard, F., Greer, C. W. (2006). Genes involved in the methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) metabolic pathway of Mycobacterium austroafricanum IFP 2012.. Microbiology 152: 1361-1374 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cuin, T. A., Shabala, S. (2005). Exogenously Supplied Compatible Solutes Rapidly Ameliorate NaCl-induced Potassium Efflux from Barley Roots. Plant Cell Physiol 46: 1924-1933 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ma, W., Charles, T. C., Glick, B. R. (2004). Expression of an Exogenous 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylate Deaminase Gene in Sinorhizobium meliloti Increases Its Ability To Nodulate Alfalfa. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 5891-5897 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Boscari, A., Mandon, K., Poggi, M.-C., Le Rudulier, D. (2004). Functional Expression of Sinorhizobium meliloti BetS, a High-Affinity Betaine Transporter, in Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 5916-5922 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zahran, H. H. (1999). Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis and Nitrogen Fixation under Severe Conditions and in an Arid Climate. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 63: 968-989 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»