Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella aerogenes: studies with the continuous-culture technique.

Ammonia-nitrogen-limited continuous cultures of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella aerogenes contain induced levels of glutamine synthetase that is deadenylyated (i.e., fully active). In the presence of excess ammonia or glutamate in glucose-limited cultures of E. coli, glutamine synthetase is repressed and adenylylated (inactive). The average state of adenylylation (n) is a linear function of the specific growth rate. At low specific growth rates, glutamine synthetase is adenylylated; as the specific growth rate increases, n decreases, approaching 0 to 2 at rapid growth rates. The average state of adenylylation correlates well with the intracellular concentrations and ratios of alpha-ketoglutarate and glutamine, which are key effectors in the adenylylation-deadenylylation systems. E. coli and K. aerogenes differ markedly in their growth yields, growth rates, and enzymatic composition during nitrogen limitation. The data suggest that, unlike K. aerogenes, E. coli W uses glutamate dehydrogenase to incorporate ammonia during nitrogen limitation. In E. coli, glutamate dehydrogenase is progressively induced during nitrogen limitation when mu (growth rate) approaches mumax. In contrast, in K. aerogenes glutamate dehydrogenase is repressed during nitrogen limitation, whereas glutamate synthase, an alternative supplier of glutamate to the cell, is induced. Data are presented that support the regulatory schemes proposed for the control of glutamine synthetase activity by induction-repression phenomena and adenylylation-deadenylylation reaction. We propose that the intracellular ratio of alpha-ketoglutarate to glutamine may be the most important physiological parameter in determining the activity of glutamine synthetase.