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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2005, p. 6571-6577, Vol. 71, No. 11
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.11.6571-6577.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Importance of Organosulfur Utilization for Survival of Pseudomonas putida in Soil and Rhizosphere

Pascal Mirleau,1 Roy Wogelius,2,3 Andrew Smith,4 and Michael A. Kertesz1,3*

Faculty of Life Sciences,1 School of Earth, Atmospheric, and Environmental Sciences,2 Williamson Research Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom,3 CCLRC, Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, United Kingdom4

Received 20 December 2004/ Accepted 22 June 2005

The sulfur present in both agricultural and uncultivated soils is largely in the form of sulfonates and sulfate esters and not as free, bioavailable inorganic sulfate. Desulfurization of the former compounds in vitro has previously been studied in Pseudomonas putida, a common rhizosphere inhabitant. Survival of P. putida strains was now investigated in three sulfur-deficient Danish soils which were found to contain 60 to 70% of their sulfur in sulfonate or sulfate ester form, as determined by X-ray near-edge spectroscopy. The soil fitness of P. putida S-313 was compared with that of isogenic strains with mutations in the sftR and asfA genes (required for in vitro desulfurization of sulfate esters and arylsulfonates, respectively) and in the ssu locus (required in vitro for the desulfurization of both sulfonates and sulfate esters). asfA or sftR mutants showed significantly reduced survival compared to the parent strain in bulk soil that had been enriched with carbon and nitrogen to mimic rhizosphere conditions, but this reduced survival was not observed in the absence of these additives. In a tomato rhizosphere grown in compost, survival of sftR and ssu mutants was reduced relative to the parent strain. The results demonstrate that the ability to desulfurize sulfonates and sulfate esters is critical for survival of bacteria in the rhizosphere but less so in bulk soils outside the influence of plant roots, where carbon is the limiting nutrient for growth.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, 1.800 Stopford Bldg., Oxford Rd., Manchester M13 9PT, England. Phone: 44-161-275 3895. Fax: 44-161-275 5656. E-mail: michael.kertesz{at}manchester.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2005, p. 6571-6577, Vol. 71, No. 11
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.11.6571-6577.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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