eThe thu operon (thuEFGKAB) in Sinorhizobium meliloti codes for transport and utilization functions of the disaccharide trehalose. Sequenced genomes of members of the Rhizobiaceae reveal that some rhizobia and Agrobacterium possess the entire thu operon in similar organizations and that Mesorhizobium loti MAFF303099 lacks the transport (thuEFGK) genes. In this study, we show that this operon is dedicated to the transport and assimilation of maltitol and isomers of sucrose (leucrose, palatinose, and trehalulose) in addition to trehalulose, not only in S. meliloti but also in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. By using genetic complementation, we show that the thuAB genes of S. meliloti, M. loti, and A. tumefaciens are functionally equivalent. Further, we provide both genetic and biochemical evidence to show that these bacteria assimilate these disaccharides by converting them to their respective 3-keto derivatives and that the thuAB genes code for this ketodisaccharide-forming enzyme(s). Formation of 3-ketotrehalose in real time in live S. meliloti is shown through Raman spectroscopy. The presence of an additional ketodisaccharide-forming pathway(s) in A. tumefaciens is also indicated. To our knowledge, this is the first report to identify the genes that code for the conversion of disaccharides to their 3-ketodisaccharide derivatives in any organism.
Rhizobia are facultative symbionts which form nitrogen-fixing nodules on leguminous plants (1). Trehalose (␣-D-glucopyranosyl-␣-D-glucopyranoside), which serves as an osmoprotectant in many organisms (2, 3), is found in these symbiotic structures as well as in other structures formed due to interactions between plants and microorganisms (4, 5). In addition to being an osmoprotectant, trehalose is an important source of carbon for microorganisms in agricultural soils. It can originate from nodules during nodule senescence (6) or as an excretion product (7) from mycorrhizal fungi, in which trehalose is an essential storage compound in vegetative cells and spores (8), or from insects and other soil fauna. There are three well-documented pathways for trehalose catabolism in microorganisms: (i) trehalose is hydrolyzed into two glucose moieties by the enzyme trehalase found in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and many other microorganisms, including fungi (9); (ii) trehalose is transported across the membranes either by a permease or by a phosphotransferase system (PTS), leaving trehalose unmodified or phosphorylated as trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) inside the cell (10), and the imported trehalose or T6P is hydrolyzed by enzymes such as trehalase, T6P-hydrolase, phospho-(1-1)-glucosidase or phosphotrehalase (11, 12) to yield both glucose and phosphorylated glucose as products (trehalose phosphorylase may also split trehalose by exerting a phosphate attack on the bond joining the glucose moieties [11; reference 13 and references therein]); and (iii) trehalose is taken up via the PTS as T6P as described above, but in this pathway, the enzyme trehalose-6-phosphate phosphorylase pho...