A molecular genetic study of nif expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae at the level of transcription, translation and nitrogenase activity.

A comprehensive study of nif expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae at the level of transcription, translation and nitrogenase activity during derepression and repression by NH+4 and O2 revealed that (1) transcription and translation rates remained coupled under all conditions; (2) these rates reached a peak during derepression and then decreased to a low level; (3) the transcription profile of nifLA had two peaks; the first was at 1 h before and the second coincided with that of the other operons; and (4) the peaks of nif transcription coincided with a trough in the profile of stringent regulation of RNA synthesis. Our results provide strong evidence that nif-specific repression by NH+4 and O2 occurs exclusively by transcription inhibition and that repression by O2 is independent of transcriptional regulation of the nifLA operon. We have also found evidence which together with the results of previous work shows that O2 repression of nifA mediated transcription involves the nifL gene product.