CHOLINESTERASE, ACID-PHOSPHATASE, AND PHOSPHOLIPASE-C OF PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA UNDER HYPEROSMOTIC CONDITIONS IN A HIGH-PHOSPHATE MEDIUM

The presence of low chlorine or betaine concentrations in a culture medium containing succinate, NH4Cl, and inorganic phosphate (Pi) as the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphate sources, respectively, permits the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a hyperosmolar medium. Dimethylglycine, acethylcholine, and phosphorylcholine were less effective as osmoprotectants than choline or betaine. Other alkylammonium compounds tested were virtually ineffective in this capacity. Bacterial growth was also observed in a hyperosmolar medium when choline was the sole carbon and nitrogen source. Choline could act as an osmoprotectant under all the conditions tested. However, the production of cholinesterase (ChE), acid phosphatase (Ac.Pase) and phospholipase C (PLC) took place only when choline was the carbon and nitrogen source. This fact confirms that the synthesis of PLC may occur even in the presence of a high Pi concentration in the medium. Inasmuch as in a high-Pi medium the synthesis of PLC and Ac.Pase (phosphorylcholine phosphatase) is dependent only on choline metabolism, it is postulated that both enzymes are involved in a set of reactions coordinated to produce the breakdown of the membrane phospholipids of the host cell in a hyperosmotic medium.