Genes for the Catabolism of Deoxyfructosyl Glutamine in pAtC58 Are Attributed to Utilization of Octopine in Agrobacterium tumefaciens Strain NT1

Nopaline-type Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58 cannot utilize octopine (Oct) as the sole carbon and nitrogen sources. This strain harbors two plasmids; a virulent plasmid, pTiC58, and a megaplasmid, pAtC58. From strain NT1, which is a derivative of C58 harboring only pAtC58, we isolated spontaneous mutants that utilize Oct as the sole nitrogen source. These Oct-catabolizing mutants, however, could not utilize the opine as the sole carbon source. In contrast, strain UIA5, a plasmid-free derivative of C58, could not give rise to such mutants. The mutations isolated from NT1 were mapped to socR in pAtC58, which is a negative regulator of the soc operon responsible for the uptake and catabolism of an Amadori opine, deoxyfructosyl glutamine (Dfg). A derivative of UIA5 carrying a clone of the soc operon with a transposon inserted in socR also utilizes Oct as the sole nitrogen source. However, UIA5 harboring the operon with mutations in each of the structural genes in the soc operon, socA, B, C, and D, lost the ability to generate spontaneous Oct-utilizing mutants, suggesting that soc genes in pAtC58 are required for the utilization of Oct as a nitrogen source, and that derepressed expression of these genes allows cells to utilize Oct. In contrast, Oct-catabolizing mutants derived from C58, which grew using Oct as the sole nitrogen source, could also utilize the opine as the sole carbon source. These mutants did not carry any detectable mutations in socR or the region upstream to the gene in pAtC58, suggesting that mutations occurring elsewhere in the genome, most likely in pTiC58, allow the uptake and catabolism of the opine.