Involvement of Pseudomonas putida RpoN sigma factor in regulation of various metabolic functions

The RpoN protein was originally identified in Escherichia coli as a sigma (sigma) factor essential for the expression of nitrogen regulons. In the present study we cloned the Pseudomonas putida rpoN gene and identified its gene product as a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 78,000. A mutant rpoN gene was constructed by in vitro insertion mutagenesis with a kanamycin cassette. A P. putida rpoN mutant was then isolated by replacement of the intact chromosomal rpoN gene by the mutant rpoN gene through homologous recombination. Examination of the phenotypes of the P. putida rpoN mutant thus obtained allowed the identification of a series of metabolic functions whose expression depends upon the RpoN sigma factor. The rpoN mutation in P. putida affected the utilization by this organism of nitrate, urea, and uncharged amino acids, namely, alanine, glycine, isoleucine, leucine, and serine, as nitrogen sources. The mutation also affected the utilization of the above-mentioned amino acids, as well as lysine, C4-dicarboxylates (succinate, fumarate), and alpha-ketoglutarate, as carbon sources. In contrast to the P. putida wild-type strain, the rpoN mutant was nonmotile. The colony morphology of the mutant strain was different from that of the wild-type strain. Studies on the expression of the TOL plasmid catabolic operons in the mutant strain demonstrated that transcription from the upper-operon promoter and from the xylS gene promoter requires the RpoN sigma factor.