The actinobacteria Frankia spp. are able to induce the formation of nodules on the roots of a large spectrum of actinorhizal plants, where they convert dinitrogen to ammonia in exchange for plant photosynthates. In the present study, transcriptional analyses were performed on nitrogen-replete free-living Frankia alni cells and on Alnus glutinosa nodule bacteria, using whole-genome microarrays. Distribution of nodule-induced genes on the genome was found to be mostly over regions with high synteny between three Frankia spp. genomes, while nodule-repressed genes, which were mostly hypothetical and not conserved, were spread around the genome. Genes known to be related to nitrogen fixation were highly induced, nif (nitrogenase), hup2 (hydrogenase uptake), suf (sulfur-iron cluster), and shc (hopanoids synthesis). The expression of genes involved in ammonium assimilation and transport was strongly modified, suggesting that bacteria ammonium assimilation was limited. Genes involved in particular in transcriptional regulation, signaling processes, protein drug export, protein secretion, lipopolysaccharide, and peptidoglycan biosynthesis that may play a role in symbiosis were also identified. We also showed that this Frankia symbiotic transcriptome was highly similar among phylogenetically distant plant families Betulaceae and Myricaceae. Finally, comparison with rhizobia transcriptome suggested that F. alni is metabolically more active in symbiosis than rhizobia.

Frankia is a nitrogen-fixing actinobacterium that establishes root nodule symbiosis with actinorhizal plants. The molecular basis of the symbiosis is largely unknown because genetic manipulation of Frankia has not been feasible. In this study we made novel technical attempts to transform Frankia strain CcI3. We generated fusion marker genes consisting of a tetracycline resistance gene with a high codon usage similarity to Frankia's and promoters of the strain's translation initiation factor 3 gene. We flanked the fusion genes with genomic sequences from strain CcI3 in the expectation that they would be integrated into the targeted site by homologous recombination. We introduced the transformation constructs into Frankia cells by electroporation and selected transformants in liquid media. The growth of antibiotic resistant cells was dependent on the presence of construct DNA. PCR analysis of the genome and reverse transcription-PCR analysis confirmed that the marker genes were introduced into the cells. Integration of the marker genes into the chromosome by homologous recombination did occur, but at a low frequency. Most of the constructs were not integrated into the chromosome and existed as degraded molecules in the cells. Marker genes declined in the transformant population during maintenance, showing that the transformation was unstable.

Frankia is a nitrogen (N)-fixing multicellular actinomycete which establishes root-nodule symbiosis with actinorhizal plants. Several aspects of Frankia N fixation and symbiosis are distinct, but genes involved in the specific features are largely unknown because of the lack of an efficient mutant screening method. In this study, we isolated mutants of Frankia sp. strain CcI3 using hyphae fragments mutagenized by chemical mutagens. Firstly, we isolated uracil auxotrophs as gain-of-function mutants resistant to 5-fluoroorotic acid (5-FOA). We obtained seven 5-FOA resistant mutants, all of which required uracil for growth. Five strains carried a frame shift mutation in orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase gene and two carried an amino acid substitution in the orotate phosphoribosyltransferase gene. Secondly, we isolated mutants showing loss-of-function phenotypes. Mutagenized hyphae were fragmented by ultrasound and allowed to multiply at their tips. Hyphae were fragmented again and short fragments were enriched by filtration through 5 μm pores filters. Next-generation and Sanger sequencing revealed that colonies formed from the short hyphae fragments consisted of cells with an identical genotype. From the mutagenized colony population, we isolated three pigmentation mutants and a mutant with reduced N-fixation activity. These results indicate that our procedure is useful for the isolation of loss-of-function mutants using hyphae of Frankia.

Frankia is a unique actinobacterium having abilities to fix atmospheric dinitrogen and to establish endosymbiosis with trees, but molecular bases underlying these interesting characteristics are poorly understood because of a lack of stable transformation system. Extremely high GC content of Frankia genome (more than 70 percent) can be a hindrance to successful transformation. We generated a synthetic gentamicin resistance gene whose codon usage is optimized to Frankia (fgmR) and evaluated its usefulness as a selection marker using a transient transformation system. Success rate of transient transformation and cell growth in selective culture were significantly increased by use of fgmR instead of a native gentamicin resistance gene, suggesting that codon optimization improved translation efficiency of the marker gene and increased antibiotic resistance. Our result shows that similarity in codon usage pattern is an important factor to be taken into account when exogenous transgenes are expressed in Frankia cells.

Rhizobia establish symbiosis with legumes. Bacteroids in indeterminate nodules of Inverted Repeat Lacking Clade (IRLC) legumes undergo terminal differentiation caused by Nodule-specific Cysteine-Rich peptides (NCRs). Microscopic observations of bacteroids and the detection of NCRs in indeterminate nodules of the non-IRLC legume Leucaena glauca were performed. A portion of the bacteroids showed moderate cell elongation, loss of membrane integrity, and multiple nucleoids. The symbiosome contained multiple bacteroids and NCR-like peptides were not detectable. These results indicate that bacteroid differentiation in L. glauca is different from that in IRLC legumes although both hosts form indeterminate nodules.