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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2002, p. 5625-5632, Vol. 184, No. 20
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.20.5625-5632.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Deficiency of a Sinorhizobium meliloti bacA Mutant in Alfalfa Symbiosis Correlates with Alteration of the Cell Envelope

Gail P. Ferguson,1 R. Martin Roop II,2 and Graham C. Walker1*

Biology Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139,1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-43542

Received 14 May 2002/ Accepted 19 July 2002

The BacA protein is essential for the long-term survival of Sinorhizobium meliloti and Brucella abortus within acidic compartments in plant and animal cells, respectively. Since both the S. meliloti and B. abortus bacA mutants have an increased resistance to bleomycin, it was hypothesized that BacA was a transporter of bleomycin and bleomycin-like compounds into the bacterial cell. However, our finding that the S. meliloti bacA mutant also has an increased sensitivity to detergents, a hydrophobic dye, ethanol, and acid pH supported a model in which BacA function affects the bacterial cell envelope. In addition, an S. meliloti lpsB mutant that is defective at a stage in infection of the host similar to that found for a bacA mutant is also sensitive to the same agents, and the carbohydrate content of its lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is altered. However, analysis of crude preparations of the bacA mutant LPS suggested that, unlike that for LpsB, BacA function did not affect the carbohydrate composition of the LPS. Rather, we found that at least one function of BacA is to affect the distribution of LPS fatty acids, including a very-long-chain fatty acid thought to be unique to the {alpha}-proteobacteria, including B. abortus.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biology Department, 68-653, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: (617) 253-6716. Fax: (617) 253-2643. E-mail: gwalker{at}mit.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2002, p. 5625-5632, Vol. 184, No. 20
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.20.5625-5632.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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