Pyochelin-mediated iron transport in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: involvement of a high-molecular-mass outer membrane protein

Infect Immun. 1991 Oct;59(10):3680-4. doi: 10.1128/iai.59.10.3680-3684.1991.

Abstract

An iron-regulated outer membrane protein of 75,000 daltons was strongly expressed following iron limitation of strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which fail to produce pyoverdine. A mutant nonderepressible for this protein (K372) was deficient in pyochelin-mediated iron transport at 150 nM FeCl3, consistent with a role for the 75-kDa protein in ferripyochelin transport. Moreover, ferripyochelin specifically protected the 75-kDa protein against trypsin digestion, supporting an interaction between ferripyochelin and the 75-kDa protein. Previous reports implicated a 14,000-dalton outer membrane protein as the receptor for ferripyochelin (P.A. Sokol and D.E. Woods, Infect. Immun. 40:665-669, 1983) and demonstrated that a mutant (FBP-28) expressing a defective 14-kDa outer membrane protein did not exhibit pyochelin-mediated iron transport (P.A. Sokol, J. Bacteriol. 169:3365-3368, 1987). Nonetheless, we were able to demonstrate (i) that FBP-28 was inducible for the 75-kDa protein under iron-limiting conditions and (ii) that concomitant with the induction of this protein in FBP-28, pyochelin-mediated iron uptake at 150 nM FeCl3 was observed. Interestingly, strain K372 did transport ferripyochelin at higher (750 nM) FeCl3 concentrations, suggesting that a second pyochelin-mediated iron transport system, perhaps involving the 14-kDa outer membrane protein identified previously, operates in P. aeruginosa.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / analysis*
  • Biological Transport
  • Iron / metabolism*
  • Iron Chelating Agents / metabolism*
  • Molecular Weight
  • Phenols / metabolism*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism*
  • Trypsin / pharmacology

Substances

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Iron Chelating Agents
  • Phenols
  • ferripyochelin
  • Iron
  • Trypsin