Date of Award:
5-1-1992
Document Type:
Dissertation
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department:
Biology
Department name when degree awarded
Biology (Molecular Biology)
Committee Chair(s)
Anne Anderson
Committee
Anne Anderson
Committee
Noelle Cockett
Committee
Jack Lancaster
Committee
Gregory Podgorski
Committee
Sherman Thomson
Committee
Dennis Welker
Abstract
Agglutinability in the beneficial fluorescent pseudomonad, Pseudomonas putida isolate Corvallis, with a plant root surface agglutinin is correlated with establishment of a bacterial population at the root-microbe interface. Agglutinability in P. putida Corvallis is conditioned in vitro by nutrient status and growth phase. Genetic analyses of the agglutination phenotype in P. putida indicate a locus, aggA, on a 2.7 kbp EcoRI-Hind III fragment is involved in manifestation of the agglutination phenotype and in adherence by the cells to bean root surfaces. Sequence analyses predict the presence of two potential open reading frames, ORFAGG1 and ORFAGG2, within the 2.7 kbp aggA locus. Sequence and deletion analyses in conjunction with chimeric promoter fusions indicate ORFAGG1, not ORFAGG2, is responsible for agglutination. ORFAGG1, 1,356 nucleotides, encodes a 50 kDa protein that is processed into a 48 kDa periplasmic protein in Escherichia coli expression studies. The promoter region of ORFAGG1 contains promoter sequences resembling the -35/-10 and -24/-12 canonical consensus sequences. The ORFAGG1 promoter is constitutively expressed in vitro in P. putida cells. The aggA locus is expressed in planta, providing a further link between in vitro agglutinability and colonization of the rhizosphere by the bacteria.
Recommended Citation
Buell, Carol Robin, "A Molecular Analysis of the Colonization Mechanisms of the Beneficial Rhizobacterium, Pseudomonas putida" (1992). Biology. 585.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd_biology/585
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