The phosphatidylcholine synthase of Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 is responsible for the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, which acts as a temporary reservoir for Al3+

In Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 cells grown with tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide and exposed to Al3Cl, phosphatidylcholine (PC) levels increased, which alleviated stress caused by the Al3+. Here we cloned and sequenced a gene from this strain that encodes a phosphatidylcholine synthase (PCS) and characterized a pcs-deficient mutant. In the pcs-deficient mutant, PC could not be detected, whereas the mutant could be successfully complemented and expressed the enzyme, indicating that PC synthesis occurs exclusively via the PCS pathway in this organism. Although under non-stressing growth conditions the pcs-deficient mutant showed growth like that of the wild-type strain, the mutant was much more sensitive when challenged with Al3+, which strongly supports the supposition that PC is involved in the response of P. putida to Al3+ and acts as a temporary reservoir of available ions through the formation of Al3+ : PC complexes.