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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2006, p. 2385-2389, Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2385-2389.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Natural Electrotransformation of Lightning-Competent Pseudomonas sp. Strain N3 in Artificial Soil Microcosms

Hélène Cérémonie,1* François Buret,2 Pascal Simonet,1 and Timothy M. Vogel1

Écologie Microbienne UMR-CNRS 5557, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France,1 Cegely UMR CNRS 5005-ECL, 36, Av. Guy de Collongue, 69134 Ecully Cedex, France2

Received 24 November 2005/ Accepted 19 January 2006

The lightning-competent Pseudomonas sp. strain N3, recently isolated from soil, has been used to study the extent of natural electrotransformation (NET) or lightning transformation as a horizontal gene transfer mechanism in soil. The variation of electrical fields applied to the soil with a laboratory-scale lightning system provides an estimate of the volume of soil affected by NET. Based on the range of the electric field that induces NET of Pseudomonas strain N3, the volume of soil, where NET could occur, ranges from 2 to 950 m3 per lightning strike. The influence of DNA parameters (amount, size, and purity) and DNA soil residence time were also investigated. NET frequencies (electrotransformants/recipient cells) ranged from 10–8 for cell lysate after 1 day of residence in soil to 4 x 10–7 with a purified plasmid added immediately before the lightning. The electrical field gradient (in kilovolts per cm) also played a role as NET frequencies ranging from 1 x 10–5 at 2.3 kV/cm to 1.7 x 10–4 at 6.5 kV/cm.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Cegely UMR CNRS 5005, 36, Av. Guy de Collongue, 69134 Ecully Cedex, France. Phone: (33) 4-72-18-64-94. Fax: (33) 4-78-43-37-17. E-mail: helene.ceremonie{at}ec-lyon.fr.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2006, p. 2385-2389, Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2385-2389.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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