Control of Pantothenate Accumulation in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Authors

Tsuneo Kaneshiro, Northern Regional Research Laboratory, Northern Marketing and Nutrition Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois
Larry O. Arthur, Northern Regional Research Laboratory, Northern Marketing and Nutrition Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois
Kenneth W. Nickerson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

February 1973

Comments

Published in JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, Feb. 1973, p. 619-626. Copyright 1973 American Society for Microbiology. Used by permission.

Abstract

Two pantothenate-requiring mutants of Agrobacterium tumefaciens have been isolated. One of them (strain WMP-1) is unusual in that growth levels equivalent to the parent strain are achieved only when the medium is additionally supplemented with aspartate or another compound related to the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Extracts of cells grown on limiting aspartate were found to contain four times more ¹⁴IC-pantothenate than th6se grown at optimal aspartate concentrations. This difference was found in both the perchloric acid-soluble and -insoluble fractions, presumably the coenzyme A pool and acyl carrier protein, respectively. These findings are discussed in terms of membrane integrity and the control of fatty acid biosynthesis.