Removal of copper and/or zinc ions from synthetic solutions by immobilized, non-viable bacterial biomass: Batch and fixed-bed column lab-scale study.

A biosorbent composed of non-viable Pseudomonas putida trapped in agar beads was able to remove Cu2+ and Zn2+ from solutions containing one or both metals. The process in batch followed pseudo second-order kinetics, with adsorption capacities of 0.255 mg Cu2+/g and 0.170 mg Zn2+/g according to the Langmuir isotherm. These values were up to ten times lower for beads without biomass. The metals became bound to OH, CH2, CO, COC and COP groups, with the last three being provided by the biomass, which highlights its importance. Adsorption values for single-metal solutions filtered in a fixed-bed column were 0.152 mg Cu2+/g and 0.117 mg Zn2+/g, but decreased to 0.075 and 0.058, respectively, with mixed-metal solutions (1:1 ratio). In 10:1-ratio solutions, the metal in greater proportion was better adsorbed. Under all conditions, removal percentage was ∼60 %. The column could be reused throughout ten absorption/desorption cycles without significant alterations in adsorption capacity.

Alginate-perlite encapsulated Pseudomonas putida A (ATCC 12633) cells: Preparation, characterization and potential use as plant inoculants.

Microbial immobilization can be used to prepare encapsulated inoculants. Here, we characterize and describe the preparation of Ca-alginate-perlite microbeads loaded with cells of plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas putida A (ATCC 12633), for their future application as agricultural inoculants. The microbeads were prepared by dropwise addition of a CaCl2-paraffin emulsion mixture to an emulsion containing alginate 2% (w/v), perlite 0.1-0.4% (w/v) and bacterial suspension in 0.9% NaCl (1010 CFU/mL). For all perlite concentrations used, microbead size was 90-120 µm, the trapped population was 108 CFU/g microbeads and the increase in mechanical stability was proportional to perlite concentration. Microbeads containing 0.4% (w/v) perlite were able to release bacteria into the medium after 30 days of incubation. When we evaluated how P. putida A (ATCC 12633) entrapped in Ca-alginate-perlite (0.4% (w/v)) microbeads colonized the Arabidopsis thaliana rhizosphere, an increase in colonization over time was detected (from an initial 2.1 × 104 to 9.2 × 105 CFU/g soil after 21 days). With this treatment, growth promotion of A. thaliana occurred with an increase in the amount of proteins, and in root and leaf biomass. It was concluded that the microbeads could be applied as possible inoculants, since they provide protection and a controlled release of microorganisms into the rhizosphere.

Identification, cloning and biochemical characterization of Pseudomonas putida A (ATCC 12633) monooxygenase enzyme necessary for the metabolism of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide.

This study presents the first report of the purification and characterization of a monooxygenase enzyme from Pseudomonas putida A (ATCC 12633) that is responsible for the oxidation of physiologically relevant quaternary ammonium compounds, the tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide. The degradation of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide by P. putida A (ATCC 12633) is initiated by N-dealkylation and catalysed by tetradecyltrimethylammonium monooxygenase (TTABMO), resulting in the formation of tetradecylalkanal and trimethylamine. Based on sequence analysis, the gene for TTABMO (ttbmo) corresponded to an ORF named PP2033 in the genome of P. putida KT2440. Mutation in ttabmo blocked the utilization of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide by Pseudomonas putida A (ATCC 12633) as carbon and nitrogen sources. The enzyme can be highly overexpressed in P. putida Δttabmo-T7 in active form and purified as a hexahistidine fusion protein. Like the native enzyme, the his-TTABMO was found to be a monomer with molecular mass of 40 kDa, the isoelectric point 7.3, that catalyses the breakdown of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide and utilized NADPH and FAD as cofactor. The biochemical properties and the analysis of the respective protein sequence revealed that TTABMO represents a typical flavoprotein monooxygenase, which is member of a flavoprotein family that is distinct from Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases.

Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 oxidizes trimethylamine aerobically via two different pathways.

The present study examined the aerobic metabolism of trimethylamine in Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 grown on tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide or trimethylamine. In both conditions, the trimethylamine was used as a nitrogen source and also accumulated in the cell, slowing the bacterial growth. Decreased bacterial growth was counteracted by the addition of AlCl(3). Cell-free extracts prepared from cells grown aerobically on tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide exhibited trimethylamine monooxygenase activity that produced trimethylamine N-oxide and trimethylamine N-oxide demethylase activity that produced dimethylamine. Cell-free extracts from cells grown on trimethylamine exhibited trimethylamine dehydrogenase activity that produced dimethylamine, which was oxidized to methanal and methylamine by dimethylamine dehydrogenase. These results show that this bacterial strain uses two enzymes to initiate the oxidation of trimethylamine in aerobic conditions. The apparent K(m) for trimethylamine was 0.7 mM for trimethylamine monooxygenase and 4.0 mM for trimethylamine dehydrogenase, but both enzymes maintain similar catalytic efficiency (0.5 and 0.4, respectively). Trimethylamine dehydrogenase was inhibited by trimethylamine from 1 mM. Therefore, the accumulation of trimethylamine inside Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 grown on tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide or trimethylamine may be due to the low catalytic efficiency of trimethylamine monooxygenase and trimethylamine dehydrogenase.

Tetradecyltrimethylammonium inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa hemolytic phospholipase C induced by choline.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa expresses hemolytic phospholipase C (PlcH) with choline or under phosphate-limiting conditions. PlcH from these conditions were differently eluted from the Celite-545 column after application of an ammonium sulfate linear reverse gradient. The PlcH from supernatants of bacteria grown in the presence of choline was eluted with 30% ammonium sulfate and was more than 85% inhibited by tetradecyltrimethylammonium. PlcH from supernatants of bacteria grown with succinate and ammonium ions in a low-phosphate medium was eluted as a peak with 10% of salt and was less than 10% inhibited by tetradecyltrimethylammonium. PlcH from low phosphate was purified associated with a protein of 17 kDa. This complex was dissociated and separated on a Sephacryl S-200 column with 1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate. After this dissociation, the resulting protein of 70 kDa, corresponding to PlcH, was inhibited by tetradecyltrimethylammonium, showing a protection effect of the accompanying protein. RT-PCR analyses showed that in choline media, the plcH gene was expressed independently of plcR. In low-phosphate medium, the plcH gene was expressed as a plcHR operon. Because plcR encodes for chaperone proteins, this result correlates with the observation that PlcH from supernatants of bacteria grown in the presence of choline was purified without an accompanying protein. The consequence of the absence of this chaperone was that tetradecyltrimethylammonium inhibited the PlcH activity.