Quantitative relationship between maximum growth rates and the intracellular pattern of α-esterase and β-esterase activity of leguminous infecting bacteria

ALICIA E. GRASSANO; ANA L. RONCHI; PATRICIA G. GARCÍA; LAURA MAZZAFERRO; JAVIER D. BRECCIA

NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2009 vol. 26 p. 234 - 238

1871-6784

Sixteen strains belonging to three families of the Rhizobiales order (Bradyrhizobiaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae and Rhizobiaceae) were evaluated according their specific growth rates (μ) and the activity of intracellular α-esterase and β-esterase isoenzymes. The average esterase activity of 48 isoenzymes assayed belonging to five strains with low (μmax = 0.08–0.12 h−1), four medium (μmax = 0.13–0.22 h−1) and seven high (μmax = 0.24–0.28 h−1) growth rate values were 22.1 ± 4.3; 8.7 ± 2.2 and 3.9 ± 1.7 U g−1 respectively. An inversely proportional relationship between the activity of the whole pattern of esterases and μmax was found. Our results illustrate a feature of intracellular esterases, ascribable in a variety of cellular functions, which might be related to characteristics μmax of legume infecting bacteria.