Regulatory response to a hybrid ancestral nitrogenase in
Azotobacter vinelandii
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Published:2023-10-17
Issue:5
Volume:11
Page:
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ISSN:2165-0497
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Container-title:Microbiology Spectrum
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Microbiol Spectr
Author:
Rivier Alex J.1,
Myers Kevin S.2,
Garcia Amanda K.1ORCID,
Sobol Morgan S.1ORCID,
Kaçar Betül1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin, USA
2. Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Biological nitrogen fixation, the microbial reduction of atmospheric nitrogen to bioavailable ammonia, represents both a major limitation on biological productivity and a highly desirable engineering target for synthetic biology. However, the engineering of nitrogen fixation requires an integrated understanding of how the gene regulatory dynamics of host diazotrophs respond across sequence-function space of its central catalytic metalloenzyme, nitrogenase. Here, we interrogate this relationship by analyzing the transcriptome of
Azotobacter vinelandii
engineered with a phylogenetically inferred ancestral nitrogenase protein variant. The engineered strain exhibits reduced cellular nitrogenase activity but recovers wild-type growth rates following an extended lag period. We find that expression of genes within the immediate nitrogen fixation network is resilient to the introduced nitrogenase sequence-level perturbations. Rather the sustained physiological compatibility with the ancestral nitrogenase variant is accompanied by reduced expression of genes that support trace metal and electron resource allocation to nitrogenase. Our results spotlight gene expression changes in cellular processes adjacent to nitrogen fixation as productive engineering considerations to improve compatibility between remodeled nitrogenase proteins and engineered host diazotrophs.
IMPORTANCE
Azotobacter vinelandii
is a key model bacterium for the study of biological nitrogen fixation, an important metabolic process catalyzed by nitrogenase enzymes. Here, we demonstrate that compatibilities between engineered
A. vinelandii
strains and nitrogenase variants can be modulated at the regulatory level. The engineered strain studied here responds by adjusting the expression of proteins involved in cellular processes adjacent to nitrogen fixation, rather than that of nitrogenase proteins themselves. These insights can inform future strategies to transfer nitrogenase variants to non-native hosts.
Funder
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
DOE | Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
National Science Foundation
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Cell Biology,Microbiology (medical),Genetics,General Immunology and Microbiology,Ecology,Physiology
Cited by
1 articles.
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