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Journal of Bacteriology, October 1998, p. 5044-5051, Vol. 180, No. 19
Groupe Membranes et
Osmorégulation1 and
Groupe Canaux
et Récepteurs Membranaires,2 UPRES-A
CNRS 6026, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu,
F35042, Rennes, France
Received 8 May 1998/Accepted 22 July 1998
Intracellular accumulation of sucrose in response to lowered water
activity seems to occur only in photosynthetic organisms. Here we
demonstrate, for the first time, the potent ability of this common
sugar, supplied exogenously, to reduce growth inhibition of
Sinorhizobium meliloti cells in media of inhibitory
osmolarity. Independently of the nature of the growth substrates and
the osmotic agent, sucrose appears particularly efficient in promoting
the recovery of cytoplasmic volume after plasmolysis. Surprisingly, sucrose is not accumulated by the bacteria at an osmotically efficient level. Instead, it strongly stimulates the accumulation of the main
endogenous osmolytes glutamate and
N-acetylglutaminylglutamine amide (NAGGN). Examining cell
volume changes during the hyperosmotic treatment, we found a close
correlation between the enhancement of the osmotically active solute
pool and the increase in cell volume. Sucrose shares several features
with ectoine, another nonaccumulated osmoprotectant for S. meliloti. Overall, osmoregulation in S. meliloti
appears to be strongly divergent from that in most bacteria.
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Sucrose Is a Nonaccumulated Osmoprotectant in
Sinorhizobium meliloti
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Groupe Membranes
et Osmorégulation, UPRES-A CNRS 6026, Université de Rennes
1, Campus de Beaulieu, Av. du Général Leclerc, F35042
Rennes, France. Phone and fax: 33 (0)2 99 28 61 40. E-mail:
Carlos.Blanco{at}univ-rennes1.fr.
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