Identification of a new phospholipase C activity by analysis of an insertional mutation in the hemolytic phospholipase C structural gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The phospholipase C (PLC) gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a heat-labile secreted hemolysin which is part of a Pi-regulated operon. The structural gene for PLC, plcS, was mutated in vitro by insertion of a tetracycline resistance gene cartridge. Gene replacement techniques were used to introduce the mutated plcS gene into the P. aeruginosa chromosome in place of the wild-type gene. The precise replacement of wild-type sequences by mutant sequences was confirmed by Southern hybridization. The mutant strain, designated PLC S, is nonhemolytic and lacks a 78-kilodalton protein corresponding to the size of the wild-type PLC. However, there is an additional phospholipase activity present in PLC S capable of hydrolyzing p-nitrophenylphosphorylcholine, a synthetic PLC substrate, and phosphatidylcholine. This enzymatic activity is not a result of a truncated product produced from the mutated plcS gene. The phospholipase activity of PLC S was identified as a nonhemolytic PLC.