Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1997 Jan;179(1):267–271. doi: 10.1128/jb.179.1.267-271.1997

Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 responds to nitrogen deprivation with a cascade-like sequence of transcriptional activations.

Y Cai 1, C P Wolk 1
PMCID: PMC178688  PMID: 8982007

Abstract

Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 adapts to deprivation of fixed nitrogen by undergoing physiological and genetic changes that include formation of N2-fixing heterocysts. Whether or not certain of the genes involved are interdependently expressed has been studied.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (199.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Apelian D., Inouye S. Development-specific sigma-factor essential for late-stage differentiation of Myxococcus xanthus. Genes Dev. 1990 Aug;4(8):1396–1403. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.8.1396. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bauer C. C., Buikema W. J., Black K., Haselkorn R. A short-filament mutant of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 that fragments in nitrogen-deficient medium. J Bacteriol. 1995 Mar;177(6):1520–1526. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.6.1520-1526.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Black T. A., Cai Y., Wolk C. P. Spatial expression and autoregulation of hetR, a gene involved in the control of heterocyst development in Anabaena. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Jul;9(1):77–84. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01670.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Black T. A., Wolk C. P. Analysis of a Het- mutation in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 implicates a secondary metabolite in the regulation of heterocyst spacing. J Bacteriol. 1994 Apr;176(8):2282–2292. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.8.2282-2292.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brahamsha B., Haselkorn R. Identification of multiple RNA polymerase sigma factor homologs in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120: cloning, expression, and inactivation of the sigB and sigC genes. J Bacteriol. 1992 Nov;174(22):7273–7282. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.22.7273-7282.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brahamsha B., Haselkorn R. Isolation and characterization of the gene encoding the principal sigma factor of the vegetative cell RNA polymerase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J Bacteriol. 1991 Apr;173(8):2442–2450. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.8.2442-2450.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brun Y. V., Shapiro L. A temporally controlled sigma-factor is required for polar morphogenesis and normal cell division in Caulobacter. Genes Dev. 1992 Dec;6(12A):2395–2408. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.12a.2395. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Buikema W. J., Haselkorn R. Characterization of a gene controlling heterocyst differentiation in the cyanobacterium Anabaena 7120. Genes Dev. 1991 Feb;5(2):321–330. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.2.321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Buikema W. J., Haselkorn R. Isolation and complementation of nitrogen fixation mutants of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J Bacteriol. 1991 Mar;173(6):1879–1885. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.6.1879-1885.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cai Y. P., Wolk C. P. Use of a conditionally lethal gene in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 to select for double recombinants and to entrap insertion sequences. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jun;172(6):3138–3145. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.6.3138-3145.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Cai Y., Wolk C. P. Nitrogen deprivation of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 elicits rapid activation of a gene cluster that is essential for uptake and utilization of nitrate. J Bacteriol. 1997 Jan;179(1):258–266. doi: 10.1128/jb.179.1.258-266.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Elhai J., Wolk C. P. A versatile class of positive-selection vectors based on the nonviability of palindrome-containing plasmids that allows cloning into long polylinkers. Gene. 1988 Aug 15;68(1):119–138. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90605-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Elhai J., Wolk C. P. Developmental regulation and spatial pattern of expression of the structural genes for nitrogenase in the cyanobacterium Anabaena. EMBO J. 1990 Oct;9(10):3379–3388. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07539.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ernst A., Black T., Cai Y., Panoff J. M., Tiwari D. N., Wolk C. P. Synthesis of nitrogenase in mutants of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 affected in heterocyst development or metabolism. J Bacteriol. 1992 Oct;174(19):6025–6032. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.19.6025-6032.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Fay P. Oxygen relations of nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria. Microbiol Rev. 1992 Jun;56(2):340–373. doi: 10.1128/mr.56.2.340-373.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Frías J. E., Flores E., Herrero A. Requirement of the regulatory protein NtcA for the expression of nitrogen assimilation and heterocyst development genes in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. Mol Microbiol. 1994 Nov;14(4):823–832. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01318.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Holland D., Wolk C. P. Identification and characterization of hetA, a gene that acts early in the process of morphological differentiation of heterocysts. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jun;172(6):3131–3137. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.6.3131-3137.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Losick R., Stragier P. Crisscross regulation of cell-type-specific gene expression during development in B. subtilis. Nature. 1992 Feb 13;355(6361):601–604. doi: 10.1038/355601a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Maldener I., Fiedler G., Ernst A., Fernández-Piñas F., Wolk C. P. Characterization of devA, a gene required for the maturation of proheterocysts in the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. J Bacteriol. 1994 Dec;176(24):7543–7549. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.24.7543-7549.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Prentki P., Binda A., Epstein A. Plasmid vectors for selecting IS1-promoted deletions in cloned DNA: sequence analysis of the omega interposon. Gene. 1991 Jul 15;103(1):17–23. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(91)90385-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wilcox M., Mitchison G. J., Smith R. J. Pattern formation in the blue-green alga Anabaena. II. Controlled proheterocyst regression. J Cell Sci. 1973 Nov;13(3):637–649. doi: 10.1242/jcs.13.3.637. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wilcox M., Mitchison G. J., Smith R. J. Pattern formation in the blue-green alga, Anabaena. I. Basic mechanisms. J Cell Sci. 1973 May;12(3):707–723. doi: 10.1242/jcs.12.3.707. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Wolk C. P., Cai Y., Cardemil L., Flores E., Hohn B., Murry M., Schmetterer G., Schrautemeier B., Wilson R. Isolation and complementation of mutants of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 unable to grow aerobically on dinitrogen. J Bacteriol. 1988 Mar;170(3):1239–1244. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.3.1239-1244.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wolk C. P., Cai Y., Panoff J. M. Use of a transposon with luciferase as a reporter to identify environmentally responsive genes in a cyanobacterium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 15;88(12):5355–5359. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.12.5355. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wolk C. P., Elhai J., Kuritz T., Holland D. Amplified expression of a transcriptional pattern formed during development of Anabaena. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Feb;7(3):441–445. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01135.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Wolk C. P. Movement of carbon from vegetative cells to heterocysts in Anabaena cylindrica. J Bacteriol. 1968 Dec;96(6):2138–2143. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.6.2138-2143.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wolk C. P. Physiological basis of the pattern of vegetative growth of a blue-green alga. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 May;57(5):1246–1251. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.5.1246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Yanisch-Perron C., Vieira J., Messing J. Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene. 1985;33(1):103–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES