Global analysis of cell cycle gene expression of the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti
Abstract
The bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti establishes an agriculturally and ecologically important nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with leguminous plants. During symbiosis, the bacterial cells undergo drastic cellular differentiation and alter their cell cycle regulation such that they become highly polyploid. Cell cycle research has been limited in S. meliloti because there has been no method to generate synchronous cell populations. Here we describe a robust method to synchronize S. meliloti and present a global analysis of S. meliloti cell cycle gene expression. The results of this study suggest that the S. meliloti cell cycle transcriptional regulatory network, especially the regulon of the master regulator CtrA, has adapted specifically to fit its lifestyle both within the soil and its legume host.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1400421111
- Bibcode:
- 2014PNAS..111.3217D