%0 Journal Article %A Hernández-Romero, Diana %A Lucas-Elío, Patricia %A López-Serrano, Daniel %A Solano, Francisco %A Sanchez-Amat, Antonio %T Marinomonas mediterranea is a lysogenic bacterium that synthesizes R-bodies %D 2003 %J Microbiology, %V 149 %N 9 %P 2679-2686 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26524-0 %K TEM, transmission electron microscopy %K TH, tyrosine hydroxylase %K PPO, polyphenol oxidase %K DOSDS, DO activated by SDS %K DMPO, dimethoxyphenol oxidase %K DO, DOPA oxidase %K SST, Tris-buffered saline solution %K DOPA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine %K THSDS, TH activated by SDS %I Microbiology Society, %X The melanogenic marine bacterium Marinomonas mediterranea synthesizes R-bodies as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. These structures were previously described in some obligate symbionts of paramecia and some free-living bacteria, none of which was isolated from sea water. In other micro-organisms, the synthesis of R-bodies has been related to extrachromosomal elements. Accordingly, M. mediterranea induction by mitomycin C or UV radiation resulted in the production of defective phages resembling bacteriocins, indicating that it is a lysogenic bacterium. Two mitomycin-C-resistant strains defective in prophage replication have been isolated. These mutants, and the previously obtained strains ngC1, T102 and T103, the latter mutated in the ppoS gene encoding a sensor histidine kinase, are affected not only in phage replication but also in polyphenol oxidase activities and melanin synthesis, suggesting a relationship between the control of all these processes. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26524-0