Characterization of Antibiotic Production by Pseudomonas Fluorescens

Abstract

The potential of using biological control agents to promote agricultural by plant scientists. production is now being recognized One agent, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain Pf-5, produces antibiotics which protect cotton seedlings from two particular seedling pathogens. In this project, the genes encoding for the enzymes which catalyze the production of one of these antibiotics, pyrrolnitrin, were possibly transferred to a new host. Modern recombinant DNA techniques were used to achieve this objective. A balance of positive and negative results led to the conclusion of possible success. Also, the survivability of this particular organism when introduced into a new environment was explored by way of a field study. The most exciting result from this experiment was that a plasmid introduced into P. fluorescens strain Pf-5 before soil inoculation was stably maintained in the cell population throughout the length of the study period. Further experiments concerning the production of antibiotics by this organism are planned for the future