Isolation of mutants of the nitrogen-fixing actinomycete Frankia.

ABSTRACT: Frankia is a nitrogen (N)-fixing multicellular actinomycete which establishes root-nodule symbiosis with actinorhizal plants. Several aspects of Frankia N fixation and symbiosis are distinct, but genes involved in the specific features are largely unknown because of the lack of an efficient mutant screening method. In this study, we isolated mutants of Frankia sp. strain CcI3 using hyphae fragments mutagenized by chemical mutagens. Firstly, we isolated uracil auxotrophs as gain-of-function mutants resistant to 5-fluoroorotic acid (5-FOA). We obtained seven 5-FOA resistant mutants, all of which required uracil for growth. Five strains carried a frame shift mutation in orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase gene and two carried an amino acid substitution in the orotate phosphoribosyltransferas

SUBMITTER: Kakoi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4041240 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature