Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Program
Biology
Date of Award
5-2014
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Ranjan Chakraborty
Committee Members
Christopher Pritchett, Dhirendra Kumar
Abstract
Rhizobium leguminosarum is a gram-negative soil bacterium that requires iron for survival. However, iron becomes insoluble in the presence of oxygen at physiological pH. In response, Rhizobia species have used siderophore mediated iron transport systems to meet their iron requirements. R. leguminosarum ATCC 14479 produces the trihydroxymate siderophore vicibactin and we hypothesize that the import of the ferric iron-vicibactin complex is energized by the TonB-ExbB-ExbD system. Here, we have identified a putative tonB gene. A tonB mutant was created and compared with wild type in its ability to transport 55Fe-vicibactin. Also, the putative TonB of R. leguminosarum ATCC 14479 is interesting due to its estimated size compared to the TonB of E. coli.. Many groups have attempted structural analysis of the C-terminus of TonB in E. col with inconsistent results. We were successful in expressing 2 different sized TonB C-terminals (120 and 200 amino acids) using pET17b in E. coli.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Hill, Brian D., "Characterization of TonB in Rhizobium leguminosarum ATCC 14479" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2379. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2379
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.