A Method for Detection of Pseudobactin, the Siderophore Produced by a Plant-Growth-Promoting Pseudomonas Strain, in the Barley Rhizosphere

Detection in the rhizosphere of the siderophore produced by an inoculated microorganism is critical to determining the role of microbial iron chelators on plant growth promotion. We previously reported the development of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) to ferric pseudobactin, the siderophore of plant-growth-promoting Pseudomonas strain B10. One of these MAb reacted less strongly to pseudobactin than to ferric pseudobactin. The MAb reacted to Al(III), Cr(III), Cu(II), and Mn(II) complexes of pseudobactin at a level similar to the level at which it reacted to ferric pseudobactin and reacted less to the Zn(II) complex, but these metals would make up only a small fraction of chelated pseudobactin in soil on the basis of relative abundance of metals and relative binding constants. Fourteen-day-old barley plants grown in limed and autoclaved soil were inoculated with 109 CFU of Pseudomonas strain Sm1-3, a strain of Pseudomonas B10 Rifr Nalr selected for enhanced colonization, and sampled 3 days later. Extraction and analysis of the roots and surrounding soil using the MAb in an immunoassay indicated a concentration of 3.5 � 10-10 mol of ferric pseudobacting g-1 (wet weight). This is the first direct measurement of a pseudobactin siderophore in soil or rhizosphere samples.