FIG. 2.

Gene organization at the teaABC locus of H. elongata, location of Tn1732 insertion, deletion and marker replacement mutations, and osmoprotection analysis. The teaC gene in KB1 was identified by insertion mutagenesis (Tn1732). The DNA loci orf1 and teaAB were identified by ligase-mediated PCR and inactivated by deletion and marker replacement mutation (Ω), respectively. The relevance of teaABC and orf1 for osmoprotection by ectoine was verified by monitoring the growth of all mutants on high-salinity minimal plates (MM63 with 1.37 M NaCl) in the presence of 250 μM ectoine. Growth (growth, +; no growth, −) was scored after 3 days of incubation at 30°C. P1 and P2, potential promoter sequences; S, potential stem-loop sequences.