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. 1990 Apr;172(4):2172–2174. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.4.2172-2174.1990

Osmosensitivity phenotypes of Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants that lack periplasmic beta-1,2-glucan.

G A Cangelosi 1, G Martinetti 1, E W Nester 1
PMCID: PMC208718  PMID: 2318812

Abstract

The periplasmic cyclic beta-1,2-glucan of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is believed to maintain high osmolarity in the periplasm during growth of the bacteria on low-osmotic-strength media. Strains with mutations in the chvA or chvB gene do not accumulate beta-1,2-glucan in their periplasm and exhibit pleiotropic phenotypes, including inability to form crown gall tumors on plants. We examined the effects of medium osmolarity to determine whether some or all of these phenotypes result from suboptimal periplasmic osmolarity. The mutants grew more slowly than wild-type cells and exhibited altered periplasmic and cytoplasmic protein content when cultured in low-osmotic-strength media, but not when cultured in high-osmotic-strength media. These observations support a role for periplasmic glucan in osmoadaptation. However, the mutants were avirulent and exhibited reduced motility regardless of the osmolarity of the medium. Therefore, beta-1,2-glucan may play roles in virulence and motility that are unrelated to its role in osmoadaptation.

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Selected References

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

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