The bhuQ gene encodes a heme oxygenase that contributes to the ability of Brucella abortus 2308 to use heme as an iron source and is regulated by Irr.

ABSTRACT: The Brucella BhuQ protein is a homolog of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum heme oxygenases HmuD and HmuQ. To determine if this protein plays a role in the ability of Brucella abortus 2308 to use heme as an iron source, an isogenic bhuQ mutant was constructed and its phenotype evaluated. Although the Brucella abortus bhuQ mutant DCO1 did not exhibit a defect in its capacity to use heme as an iron source or evidence of increased heme toxicity in vitro, this mutant produced increased levels of siderophore in response to iron deprivation compared to 2308. Introduction of a bhuQ mutation into the B. abortus dhbC mutant BHB2 (which cannot produce siderophores) resulted in a severe growth defect in the dhbC bhuQ double mutant JFO1 during cultivation under iron-restricted conditions, which could be re

SUBMITTER: Ojeda JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416563 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature