Under both conditions, the GDC-0449 mouse nosZ mutant cells achieved N2O accumulation values of approximately 8- and 2-fold higher than the values produced by WT cells after 18 h and 36 h of incubation in MMN, respectively (Figure 2). Figure

2 N 2 O accumulation in E. meliloti 1021 (WT) and the nosZ mutant incubated in MMN under 2% initial O 2 or anoxic conditions. N2O was measured in the headspace of the cultures after 18 and 36 h of incubation. The data represent the means with the standard deviations from at least two different cultures assayed in triplicate. Identification of E. meliloti NorC As previously reported by Torres and colleagues [31], four haem-stained bands of 40, 33, 32 and 27 kDa were detected in E. meliloti 1021 cells grown in minimal media (MM) with an initial O2 find more concentration of 2% in the headspace (Figure 3, lane 1). Although the identities of the 40 kDa and 33 kDa proteins are unknown, the 32 kDa and 27 kDa c-type cytochromes

were identified as the E. meliloti FixP and FixO proteins, respectively, which are subunits of the cbb 3-type high-affinity buy Nec-1s cytochrome c oxidase encoded by the fixNOQP operon [31]. The addition of nitrate to the growth medium revealed a haem-stainable band of approximately 16 kDa in the membranes of the WT cells (Figure 3, lane 2). This protein was absent in the norC mutant when it was incubated with a 2% initial oxygen concentration in MMN (Figure 3, lane 3), which identifies this c-type cytochrome as the NorC component of the E. meliloti 1021 nitric oxide reductase. As shown in Figure 3 (lane 4), membranes from the napC mutant presented a similar band pattern to that of membranes from the WT cells incubated under an initial O2 concentration

of 2% with nitrate (Figure 3, lanes 2 and 4). These results did not permit us to identify the E. meliloti NapC protein, which has a predicted size of 25 kDa. In contrast, in other rhizobia species, such as B. japonicum, NapC has been detected via haem-staining analyses and identified as a protein approximately 25 kDa in size Erythromycin [32]. Figure 3 Haem-stained proteins of membranes prepared from E. meliloti 1021 (WT) and the norC and napC mutants incubated in MM or MMN for 24 h under 2% initial O 2 or anoxic conditions. Each lane contains 25 μg of membrane proteins. Haem-stained c-type cytochromes identified previously (FixP and FixO) and in this work (NorC) are specified in the right margin. Apparent protein molecular masses (kDa) are shown in the left margin. When the cells were subjected to anoxic conditions starting at the beginning of the incubation period, a strong defect in FixP and FixO expression was observed compared with the expression levels detected in cells incubated with an initial O2 concentration of 2% (Figure 3, lanes 1 and 5). Only proteins approximately 40 and 33 kDa in size could be detected in the anoxically incubated cells. These 40 kDa and 33 kDa proteins were also present in cells grown under oxic conditions [31].