A phosphate-starvation-inducible outer-membrane protein of Pseudomonas fluorescens Ag1 as an immunological phosphate-starvation marker

A phosphate-starvation-inducible outer-membrane protein of Pseudomonas fluorescens Ag1, expressed at phosphate concentrations below0.08-0.13 mM, was purified and characterized. The purification method involved separation of outer-membrane proteins by SDS-PAGE andextraction of the protein from nitrocellulose or PVDF membranes after electrotransfer of proteins to the membranes. The N-terminal amino acidsequence of the purified protein, called Psi1, did not show homology to any known proteins, and in contrast to the phosphate-specific porin OprP ofP. aeruginosa its mobility in SDS-PAGE was not affected by solubilization temperature. An antiserum against Psi1 recognized a protein of M,55,000 in four other P. fluorescens strains among 24 tested strains representing Pseudomonas rRNA homology group I, showing antigenicheterogeneity within this group. A method for immunofluorescence microscopy involving cell permeabilization was adapted to visualize cell-specificexpression of Psi1 in P. fluorescens exposed to limiting amounts of phosphate. This approach should be useful for further exploration of Psi1 as a marker to study the availability of phosphate to P. fluorescens in natural environments.