[Autoinduction of pyoluteorin and correlation between phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and pyoluteorin in Pseudomonas sp. M18].

A new bacterium with potential biocontrol ability, Pseudomonas sp. M18, was isolated from the soil of agricultural field in suburb of Shanghai (China). It had been demonstrated that biosynthesis and secretion of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and pyoluteorin in Pseudomonas sp. M18 contributes to its suppression of soilborne pathogens. In order to study the correlation and regulatory mechanism of two antifungal compounds biosynthesis, the mutant M18T and M18Z1 were constructed with insertion of the gentamycin resistance gene cassette (aacC1), respectively. With introduction of the translational fusion pMEAZ (pltA'-' lacZ) into the wild type strain MI8 or the pit-mutant M18T, respectively, it was found that beta-galactosidase activities of the mutant M18T (pMEAZ) are remarkably enhanced by adding a certain amount of pyoluteorin in KMB medium. The results indicated that pyoluteorin might positively autoinduce expression of the pit gene loci. In investigating the correlation of two antifungal agents, it was showed that the pyoluteorin-negative mutant MI8T produces the same level of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid in comparison with the wild type strain M18. Overexpression of the plt gene loci does not result in decrease of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid in a pltZ-mutant of Pseudomonas sp. M18. However, the distinct decrease of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid biosynthesis does lead to enhanced biosynthesis of pyoluteorin in the mutant M18Z1. Addition of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid in KMB medium makes the mutant M18S produce less pyoluteorin. These results indicated that a special correlation of secondary antifungal agents biosynthesis seems to be existed in Pseudomonas sp. M18, i.e., production of pyoluteorin does not exert any influence on expression of the phz gene cluster, while phenazine-1-carboxylic acid makes negative impact on the biosynthesis of pyoluteorin.