Use of rare-earth elements in the phyllosphere colonizer Methylobacterium extorquens PA1.

ABSTRACT: Until recently, rare-earth elements (REEs) had been thought to be biologically inactive. This view changed with the discovery of the methanol dehydrogenase XoxF that strictly relies on REEs for its activity. Some methylotrophs only contain xoxF, while others, including the model phyllosphere colonizer Methylobacterium extorquens PA1, harbor this gene in addition to mxaFI encoding a Ca²⁺ -dependent enzyme. Here we found that REEs induce the expression of xoxF in M. extorquens PA1, while repressing mxaFI, suggesting that XoxF is the preferred methanol dehydrogenase in the presence of sufficient amounts of REE. Using reporter assays and a suppressor screen, we found that lanthanum (La³⁺ ) is sensed both in a XoxF-dependent and independent manner. Furthermore, we investig

SUBMITTER: Ochsner AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6850437 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature