PROBING OF PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA, PSEUDOMONAS-AUREOFACIENS, BURKHOLDERIA (PSEUDOMONAS)-CEPACIA, PSEUDOMONAS-FLUORESCENS, AND PSEUDOMONAS-PUTIDA WITH THE FERRIPYOCHELIN RECEPTOR-A GENE AND THE SYNTHESIS OF PYOCHELIN IN PSEUDOMONAS-AUREOFACIENS, PSEUDOMONAS-FLUORESCENS, AND PSEUDOMONAS-PUTIDA

The ferripyochelin receptor A (fptA) gene codes for the transport of t he ferrisiderophore ferripyochelin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A P. aer uginosa fptA internal fragment was used to probe chromosomal DNA from P. aureofaciens, B. cepacia, P. fluorescens, P. putida, and five strai ns of P. aeruginosa. These bacteria all contained DNA that hybridized to the fptA fragment. Four of the five P. aeruginosa strains displayed marked and identical patterns, indicating a high degree of sequence s imilarities among these strains. DNA from the non-P. aeruginosa bacter ia, in contrast, hybridized less to the fptA fragment. Pseudomonas aer uginosa and B. cepacia synthesize pyochelin. Experiments were performe d to confirm P. fluorescens pyochelin synthesis and to determine if py ochelin, cepabactin or salicylic acid were made by P. aureofaciens, P. putida, and P. fluorescens. Only pyochelin was isolated and identifie d from P. fluorescens. P. aureofaciens and P. putida produced none of these compounds. While all of these bacteria contain chromosomal DNA t hat hybridized to the fptA fragment probe, pyochelin synthesis did not occur in all, indicating that fptA fragment hybridization cannot alwa ys be correlated with pyochelin biosynthesis.