A9 : The significance of bacterial phosphatidylcholine for symbiotic and pathogenic plant-microbe interactions (Narberhaus)

 

 

Prof. Dr. Franz Narberhaus
Department of Biology of the micro organisms
Universitätsstrasse 150
Building NDEF, 06th Floor, Room 783
44801 Bochum, Germany

Phone: 0234 - 32 - 28100
Fax: 0234 - 32 - 14620

eMail: franz.narberhaus@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

 

 

 

 

Phosphatidylcholine (PC, lecithine) is the major membrane lipid of eukaryotic cells. Only recently it was recognized that many bacteria are capable of synthesizing PC. We found that PC in the membrane of the root-nodulating, nitrogen-fixing bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum is required for an efficient symbiotic interaction with soybean plants. The molecular details of this interaction are going to be studied. Postulated pathways for PC formation in B. japonicum will be analyzed genetically and biochemically. The role of PC for pathogenic plant-microbe interactions will be studied in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The genome sequence suggests this bacterium produces PC by two different routes. The respective genes will be disrupted and their contribution to PC biosynthesis and interaction with model plants will be assessed.

 

 

Selected literature:

Aktas M, Narberhaus F (2009) In vitro characterization of the enzyme properties of the phospholipid N-methyltransferase PmtA from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. J Bacteriol 191: 2033-2041

Klüsener S, Aktas M, Thormann K M, Wessel M, Narberhaus F (2009) Expression and physiological relevance of Agrobacterium tumefaciens phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis genes. J Bacteriol 191: 365-374

Hacker S, Gödeke J, Lindemann A, Mesa S, Pessi G, Narberhaus F (2008) Global consequences of phosphatidylcholine reduction in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Mol Genet Genomics 280: 59-72

Hacker S, Sohlenkamp C, Aktas M, Geiger O, Narberhaus F (2008) Multiple phospholipid N-methyltransferases with distinct substrate specificities are encoded in Bradyrhizobium japonicum. J Bacteriol 190: 571-580

Wessel M, Klüsener S, Gödeke J, Fritz C, Hacker S, Narberhaus F (2006) Virulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens requires phosphatidylcholine in the bacterial membrane. Mol Microbiol, 62: 906-915

Minder AC, de Rudder KE, Narberhaus F, Fischer HM, Hennecke H, Geiger O (2001) Phosphatidylcholine levels in Bradyrhizobium japonicum membranes are critical for an efficient symbiosis with the soybean host plant. Mol Microbiol 39: 1186-1198 pdf-file