Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A comparison with mechanisms in Corynebacterium glutamicum and Streptomyces coelicolor

The mechanisms governing the regulation of nitrogen metabolism in Corynebacterium glutamicium and Streptomyces coelicolor have been extensively studied. These Actinomycetales are closely related to the Mycobacterium genus and may therefore serve as a models to elucidate the cascade of nitrogen signalling in other mycobacteria. Some factors involved in nitrogen metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been described, including glutamine synthetase and its adenylyltransferase., but not much data concerning the other components involved in the signalling cascade is available. In this review a comparative study of factors involved in nitrogen metabolism in C. glutamicum and S. coelicolor is made to identify similarities with M. tuberculosis on both a genomic and proteomic level. This may provide insight into a potential global mechanism of nitrogen control in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. (C) 2008 IUBMB.