An ABC-type cobalt transport system is essential for growth of Sinorhizobium meliloti at trace metal concentrations

We report expression and mutant phenotypes for a gene cluster in Sinorhizobium meliloti, designated cbtJKL, that has been shown to encode an ABC-type cobalt transport system. Transcription of cbtJKLinitiated 384 nucleotides upstream from the cbtJtranslation start codon, and the resulting 5′ region contained a putative B12riboswitch. Expression of the cbtJKLgenes appeared to be controlled by (cobalt-loaded) cobalamin interacting at the B12riboswitch, since (i) a putative B12riboswitch was located within this large upstream region, (ii) cbtJtranscription was repressed upon addition of cobalt or vitamin B12, and (iii) deletions in the B12riboswitch resulted in constitutive cbtJKLtranscription. Insertion mutants in cbtJKLfailed to grow in LB medium, and growth was restored through the addition of cobalt but not other metals. This growth phenotype appeared to be due to the chelation of cobalt present in LB, and cbtJKLmutants also failed to grow in minimal medium containing the chelating agent EDTA unless the medium was supplemented with additional or excess cobalt. In uptake experiments, 57Co2+accumulation was high in wild-type cells expressing the cbtJKLgenes, whereas wild-type cells in which cbtJKLexpression was repressed showed reduced accumulation. In cbtJKLmutant cells, 57Co2+accumulation was reduced relative to that of the wild type, and presumably, this residual cobalt transport occurred via an alternate ion uptake system(s) that is not specific to cobalt. In symbiosis, the alternate system(s) appeared to mediate cobalt transport into bacteroid cells, as low cbtJKLexpression was detected in bacteroids and cbtJKLmutants formed N2-fixing nodules on alfalfa.