Gene Products of the hupGHIJ Operon Are Involved in Maturation of the Iron-Sulfur Subunit of the [NiFe] Hydrogenase from Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present study, we investigate the functions of the hupGHIJ operon in the synthesis of an active [NiFe] hydrogenase in the legume endosymbiont Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae. These genes are clustered with 14 other genes including the hydrogenase structural genes hupSL . A set of isogenic mutants with in-frame deletions (Δ hupG , Δ hupH , Δ hupI , and Δ hupJ ) was generated and tested for hydrogenase activity in cultures grown at different oxygen concentrations (0.2 to 2.0%) and in symbiosis with peas. In free-living cultures, deletions in these genes severely reduced hydrogenase activity. The Δ hupH mutant was totally devoid of hydrogenase activity at any of the O 2 concentration tested, whereas the requirement of hupGIJ for hydrogenase activity varied with the O 2 concentration, being more crucial at higher pO 2 . Pea bacteroids from the mutant strains affected in hupH, hupI , and hupJ exhibited reduced (20 to 50%) rates of hydrogenase activity compared to the wild type, whereas rates were not affected in the ΔhupG mutant. Immunoblot experiments with HupL- and HupS-specific antisera showed that free-living cultures from ΔhupH, ΔhupI , and ΔhupJ mutants synthesized a fully processed mature HupL protein and accumulated an unprocessed form of HupS (pre-HupS). Both the mature HupL and the pre-HupS forms were located in the cytoplasmic fraction of cultures from the ΔhupH mutant. Affinity chromatography experiments revealed that cytoplasmic pre-HupS binds to the HupH protein before the pre-HupS-HupL complex is formed. From these results we propose that hupGHIJ gene products are involved in the maturation of the HupS hydrogenase subunit.