A small functional intramolecular region of NodD was identified by mutation.

In Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae, NodD, as a member of the LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs), exerts auto-regulation and activates transcription of other nod genes in the presence of naringenin. LTTRs were typically composed of N-terminal DNA-binding domain and C-terminal regulatory domain. In this study, by systematic insertion mutation, a region of 12 amino acids in length of NodD was identified as functional domain. Insertion mutants in this region appeared to acquire the ability of constitutively activating nodA gene and retained their auto-regulation properties. This identified region was shown to be a hinge of NodD as revealed through the model built using Swiss- PDB Viewer software. It is the first time to report that as a member of LysR family, NodD has been shown to contain a short intramolecular domain that influences its performance.