Construction of a mutant library to investigate the regulation of phosphate solubilization in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Grant number: 13/00785-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Beny Spira
• Grantee: Jung Hun Park
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Phosphorus is an essential component to plant development. However, the absorption of this nutrient is hindered by phosphate precipitation into insoluble inorganic compounds. Some bacteria are able to solubilize the phosphate present in the soil. The best-studied pathway for phosphate solubilization is mediated by the production and liberation of gluconic acid. This is an organic acid produced from glucose in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme glucose dehydrogenase and its cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone, located at the external side of the cytoplasmic membrane. Gluconic acid is secreted from the cell where it reacts with the insoluble phosphate, dissociating the metal from phosphate moiety. In this project, we plan to investigate the regulation of phosphate solubilization in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To achieve this aim, a mutant library will be constructed through the random insertion of transposons in Pseudomonas aeruginosa genome. The mutants will be screened for differences in the level of phosphate solubilization. The relevant ones will be isolated and their mutations will be identified.(AU)