4c). Interestingly, these results showed that increased katG transcription in the rho mutant (Fig. 4b) is not accompanied by an equivalent increase in the levels of KatG protein. These data suggested that low stationary-phase KatG catalase–peroxidase activity in the rho mutant could be due to a deficiency in translation or in post-translational mechanisms such as polypeptide folding or incorporation of the heme cofactor. However, the levels

of immunoreactive KatG in the stationary-phase cells of strain SP3710 are comparable to those in NA1000, indicating that translation of the polypeptide is taking place and suggesting that a reduction in KatG translation efficiency is an unlikely explanation for the drastically decreased KatG activity in the stationary phase. Taken together, our results showed that the rho mutant is under permanent oxidative stress, and exogenous addition of oxidant agents could selleckchem be overwhelming C59 wnt for the cell’s response. We found that KatG activity is severely reduced in the rho mutant, and this seems to be quite a specific effect, because the activities of two SODs were apparently not affected. The decreased activity of KatG could be a result of several contributing effects caused by the rho mutation, either directly via effects on

transcription termination of relevant genes or as an indirect result of the intrinsic oxidative stress status of the cell. The fact that katG transcription is increased in the rho mutant, and catalase– peroxidase protein levels do not differ considerably between the rho mutant and the wild-type strain, suggests that the effect of the rho mutation on KatG is exerted at a translational

or a post-translational level. In the latter case, it remains to be established whether these deficiencies are in improper folding of the protein or defective incorporation of the heme group to make a functional enzyme. We thank Dr Carlos Menck and Raquel Rocha, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, for assistance with fluorescence microscopy. We thank Mr Eren Sumer, Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College Aspartate of Medicine, for assistance with in situ staining for catalase activity and Dr Regina Baldini for help in the preparation of the anti-KatG antiserum. This work was supported by a grant from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) to M.V.M. During the course of this work, V.C.S.I. and V.S.B. were supported by fellowships from FAPESP. M.V.M. is partly supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). “
“The complete DNA sequence of the 41 102-bp plasmid pXap41 from the invasive plant pathogen Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni CFBP 5530 was determined and its 44 coding regions were annotated.