@article{mbs:/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26524-0, author = "Hernández-Romero, Diana and Lucas-Elío, Patricia and López-Serrano, Daniel and Solano, Francisco and Sanchez-Amat, Antonio", title = "Marinomonas mediterranea is a lysogenic bacterium that synthesizes R-bodies", journal= "Microbiology", year = "2003", volume = "149", number = "9", pages = "2679-2686", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26524-0", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26524-0", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2080", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "TEM, transmission electron microscopy", keywords = "TH, tyrosine hydroxylase", keywords = "PPO, polyphenol oxidase", keywords = "DOSDS, DO activated by SDS", keywords = "DMPO, dimethoxyphenol oxidase", keywords = "DO, DOPA oxidase", keywords = "SST, Tris-buffered saline solution", keywords = "DOPA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine", keywords = "THSDS, TH activated by SDS", abstract = "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.", }