Complementation analyses of Sinorhizobium meliloti nifA mutant with different originated nifA genes

A previous work inferred that the nifA gene of Enterobacter cloacae did not restore the symbiotic phenotype of Sinorhizobium meliloti nifA mutant. In the present study, two nifA genes of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Mesorhizobium huakuii also did not restore the symbiotic phenotype of S. meliloti nifA mutant. In whole genomic microarray experiments, 238 genes were found to be differentially expressed after S. meliloti nifA had been constitutively expressed in its nifA mutant. In contrast, only 20, 7 and 9 genes changed their transcriptional levels when expressing B. japonium, M. huakuii and Enterobacter cloacae nifA genes in Sm nifA mutant, separately. These genes were classified into several functional groups including house keeping, energy and central intermediary metabolism, transport systems and symbiosis. Interestingly, the genes that of nifH operons showed high expression levels in the presence of either B. japonium or M. huakuii NifA, which was confirmed by subsequent lacZ fusion experiments.