Binding of soluble glycoproteins from sugarcane juice to cells of Acetobacter diazotrophicus
- María Estrella Legaz González 1
- Roberto de Armas Urquiza 2
- Eva Barriguete 1
- Carlos Vicente 1
- 1 Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- 2 Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Cuba
ISSN: 1618-1905
Año de publicación: 2000
Volumen: 3
Número: 3
Páginas: 177-182
Tipo: Artículo
Otras publicaciones en: International microbiology: official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology
Resumen
Sugarcane produces two different pools of glycoproteins containing a heterofructan as glycidic moiety, tentatively defined as high-molecular mass (HMMG) and mid-molecular mass (MMMG) glycoproteins. Both kinds of glycoproteins can be recovered in sugarcane juice. Fluorescein-labelled glycoproteins are able to bind to Acetobacter diazotrophicus cells, a natural endophyte of sugarcane. This property implies the aggregation of bacterial cells in liquid culture after addition of HMMG or MMMG. Anionic glycoproteins seem to be responsible for the binding activity whereas cationic fraction is not retained on the surface of A. diazotrophicus. Bound HMMG is competitively desorbed by sucrose whereas MMMG is desorbed by glucosamine or fructose. On this basis, a hypothesis about the discriminatory ability of sugarcane to choose the compatible endophyte from several possible ones is proposed.