The Ser/Thr Kinase PknH Is Essential for Maintaining Heterocyst Pattern in the Cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120

In the filamentous cyanobacterium sp. strain, PCC 7120, heterocysts (which are nitrogen-fixing cells) are formed in the absence of combined nitrogen in the medium. Heterocysts are separated from one another by 10 to 15 vegetative cells along the filaments, which consist of a few hundred of cells. is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Life (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-08, Vol.8 (3), p.34
Main Authors: Fukushima, Shun-Ichi, Ehira, Shigeki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anabaena
Cyanobacteria
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Deprivation
Differentiation
DNA
Filaments
Genotype & phenotype
Heterocysts
Mutagenesis
Nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation
Pattern formation
Plasmids
Protein-serine/threonine kinase
Proteins
Vegetative cells
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the filamentous cyanobacterium sp. strain, PCC 7120, heterocysts (which are nitrogen-fixing cells) are formed in the absence of combined nitrogen in the medium. Heterocysts are separated from one another by 10 to 15 vegetative cells along the filaments, which consist of a few hundred of cells. is necessary for heterocyst differentiation; and and , expressed in heterocysts, play important roles in heterocyst pattern formation by laterally inhibiting the expression of in adjacent cells. The results of this study indicated that , which encodes a Ser/Thr kinase, was also involved in heterocyst pattern formation. In the mutant, the heterocyst pattern was normal within 24 h after nitrogen deprivation, but multiple contiguous heterocysts were formed from 24 to 48 h. A time-lapse analysis of reporter strains harboring a fusion between and the promoter indicated that was required to suppress expression in cells adjacent to the preexisting heterocysts. These results indicated that was necessary for the lateral inhibition of heterocyst differentiation to maintain the heterocyst pattern.
ISSN:2075-1729
2075-1729
DOI:10.3390/life8030034