Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1996 Dec;178(24):7322–7325. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.24.7322-7325.1996

Anaerobic production of alginate by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: alginate restricts diffusion of oxygen.

D J Hassett 1
PMCID: PMC178651  PMID: 8955420

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa produced alginate and elevated algD (encoding GDPmannose 6-dehydrogenase) transcription under strict anaerobic conditions, especially when using nitrate as a terminal electron acceptor. Purified alginate added to bacterial suspensions caused a decrease in growth, suggesting that alginate contributes to oxygen limitation for the organism and likely for patients afflicted with the inherited autosomal disease cystic fibrosis.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (3.5 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Balough K., McCubbin M., Weinberger M., Smits W., Ahrens R., Fick R. The relationship between infection and inflammation in the early stages of lung disease from cystic fibrosis. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1995 Aug;20(2):63–70. doi: 10.1002/ppul.1950200203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bayer A. S., Eftekhar F., Tu J., Nast C. C., Speert D. P. Oxygen-dependent up-regulation of mucoid exopolysaccharide (alginate) production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Infect Immun. 1990 May;58(5):1344–1349. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.5.1344-1349.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berry A., DeVault J. D., Chakrabarty A. M. High osmolarity is a signal for enhanced algD transcription in mucoid and nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. J Bacteriol. 1989 May;171(5):2312–2317. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.5.2312-2317.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bradford M. M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem. 1976 May 7;72:248–254. doi: 10.1006/abio.1976.9999. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Coates A. L. Oxygen therapy, exercise, and cystic fibrosis. Chest. 1992 Jan;101(1):2–4. doi: 10.1378/chest.101.1.2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DeVault J. D., Kimbara K., Chakrabarty A. M. Pulmonary dehydration and infection in cystic fibrosis: evidence that ethanol activates alginate gene expression and induction of mucoidy in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mol Microbiol. 1990 May;4(5):737–745. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1990.tb00644.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DeVries C. A., Ohman D. E. Mucoid-to-nonmucoid conversion in alginate-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa often results from spontaneous mutations in algT, encoding a putative alternate sigma factor, and shows evidence for autoregulation. J Bacteriol. 1994 Nov;176(21):6677–6687. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.21.6677-6687.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goldberg J. B., Ohman D. E. Cloning and expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa of a gene involved in the production of alginate. J Bacteriol. 1984 Jun;158(3):1115–1121. doi: 10.1128/jb.158.3.1115-1121.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Haas D., Holloway B. W., Schamböck A., Leisinger T. The genetic organization of arginine biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mol Gen Genet. 1977 Jul 7;154(1):7–22. doi: 10.1007/BF00265571. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Knutson C. A., Jeanes A. A new modification of the carbazole analysis: application to heteropolysaccharides. Anal Biochem. 1968 Sep;24(3):470–481. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(68)90154-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Konyecsni W. M., Deretic V. Broad-host-range plasmid and M13 bacteriophage-derived vectors for promoter analysis in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gene. 1988 Dec 30;74(2):375–386. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90171-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Krieg D. P., Bass J. A., Mattingly S. J. Aeration selects for mucoid phenotype of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Dec;24(6):986–990. doi: 10.1128/jcm.24.6.986-990.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Leitão J. H., Sá-Correia I. Oxygen-dependent alginate synthesis and enzymes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Gen Microbiol. 1993 Mar;139(3):441–445. doi: 10.1099/00221287-139-3-441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Martin D. W., Schurr M. J., Mudd M. H., Govan J. R., Holloway B. W., Deretic V. Mechanism of conversion to mucoidy in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infecting cystic fibrosis patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Sep 15;90(18):8377–8381. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.18.8377. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. May T. B., Chakrabarty A. M. Isolation and assay of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alginate. Methods Enzymol. 1994;235:295–304. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(94)35148-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mian F. A., Jarman T. R., Righelato R. C. Biosynthesis of exopolysaccharide by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol. 1978 May;134(2):418–422. doi: 10.1128/jb.134.2.418-422.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Moilanen E., Vapaatalo H. Nitric oxide in inflammation and immune response. Ann Med. 1995 Jun;27(3):359–367. doi: 10.3109/07853899509002589. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Terry J. M., Piña S. E., Mattingly S. J. Environmental conditions which influence mucoid conversion Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Infect Immun. 1991 Feb;59(2):471–477. doi: 10.1128/iai.59.2.471-477.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Terry J. M., Piña S. E., Mattingly S. J. Role of energy metabolism in conversion of nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the mucoid phenotype. Infect Immun. 1992 Apr;60(4):1329–1335. doi: 10.1128/iai.60.4.1329-1335.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Thauer R. K., Jungermann K., Decker K. Energy conservation in chemotrophic anaerobic bacteria. Bacteriol Rev. 1977 Mar;41(1):100–180. doi: 10.1128/br.41.1.100-180.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Vander Wauven C., Piérard A., Kley-Raymann M., Haas D. Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants affected in anaerobic growth on arginine: evidence for a four-gene cluster encoding the arginine deiminase pathway. J Bacteriol. 1984 Dec;160(3):928–934. doi: 10.1128/jb.160.3.928-934.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wozniak D. J., Ohman D. E. Pseudomonas aeruginosa AlgB, a two-component response regulator of the NtrC family, is required for algD transcription. J Bacteriol. 1991 Feb;173(4):1406–1413. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.4.1406-1413.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Zielinski N. A., Chakrabarty A. M., Berry A. Characterization and regulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa algC gene encoding phosphomannomutase. J Biol Chem. 1991 May 25;266(15):9754–9763. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES