Identification of a fabZ gene essential for flexirubin synthesis in Cytophaga hutchinsonii

Abstract

Cytophaga hutchinsonii, an aerobic soil bacterium which could degrade cellulose, produces yellow flexirubin pigments. In this study, fabZ, annotated as a putative β-hydroxyacyl-(acyl carrier protein) (ACP) dehydratase gene, was identified by insertional mutation and gene deletion as an essential gene for flexirubin pigment synthesis. The availability of a FabZ-mutant that fails to produce flexirubin allowed us to investigate the biological role of the pigment in C. hutchinsonii. Loss of flexirubin made the FabZ-mutant more sensitive to UV radiation, oxidative stress and alkaline stress than the wild-type.

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