The Rhizobium leguminosarum glnB gene is down-regulated during symbiosis

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation involves the development, on the legume plant root, of specialised organs called nodules within which plant photosynthates are exchanged for combined nitrogen of bacterial origin. The glnB gene encodes a signal transduction protein (PII) which is a component of the bacterial nitrogen regulation (Ntr) system and an essential regulator of ammonium assimilation. We demonstrate that in Rhizobium leguminosarum the glnB promoter is strongly nitrogen- and NtrC-regulated but still shows a significant level of activity in conditions of nitrogen excess. Expression of genes involved in nitrogen assimilation has been shown to be absent in nitrogen-fixing bacteroids and consistent with this, we find that the glnB promoter is down-regulated during bacteroid differentiation at a time coincident with the arrest of bacterial division in the nodule. This pattern is common to other bacterial genes involved in nitrogen assimilation and it is notable that the zone where the glnB promoter is active is coincident with the region where NtrC is expressed.