title: Genetic analysis of the aggA locus involved in agglutination and adherence of Pseudomonas putida, a beneficial fluorescent pseudomonad.
abstract: An isolate of Pseudomonas putida, which rapidly adheres to plant roots, is agglutinated by a glycoprotein from root surfaces. Agglutination is prevented and adherence to the root surface is diminished by Tn5 insertion in mutant 5123. Two cosmid clones from wild type P. putida and a 2.7-kbp EcoRI-HindIII subclone present in both cosmid clones restored agglutinable to wild type levels in transconjugants of the nonagglutinable (Agg-) Tn5 mutant 5123. These three clones increased agglutinability in transconjugants of the parental Agg+ isolate. The 2.7-kbp EcoRI-HindIII subclone restored adherence to bean root surfaces of 5123 to wild type levels in a short-term binding assay. Deletion analysis of the 2.7-kbp fragment indicated only 1.45 kbp was necessary for complementation of agglutinability in 5123. This sequence, termed the aggA locus, contains an open reading frame of 1,356 nucleotides encoding a predicted 50,509-Da protein. The distribution of the aggA locus in plant-associated bacteria, as detected through Southern hybridization, is limited to bacteria that express the agglutination phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Program, Utah State University, Logan 84322-5305.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Buell
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000373:Agglutinins / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005453:Fluorescence; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000373:Agglutinins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial