An electron transfer flavoprotein is essential for viability and its depletion causes a rod-to-sphere change in Burkholderia cenocepacia

Essential gene studies often reveal novel essential functions for genes with dispensable homologues in other species. This is the case with the widespread family of electron transfer flavoproteins (ETFs), which are required for the metabolism of specific substrates or for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in some bacteria. Despite these non-essential functions high-throughput screens have identified ETFs as putatively essential in several species. In …