Ionic Stress and Osmotic Pressure Induce Different Alterations in the Lipopolysaccharide of a Rhizobium meliloti Strain.

A halotolerant strain of Rhizobium meliloti was isolated from nodules of a Melilotus plant growing in a salt marsh in Donana National Park (southwest Spain). This strain, EFB1, is able to grow at NaCl concentrations of up to 500 mM, and no effect on growth is produced by 300 mM NaCl. EFB1 showed alterations on its lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure that can be related to salt stress: (i) silver-stained electrophoretic profiles showed a different mobility that was dependent on ionic stress but not on osmotic pressure, and (ii) a monoclonal antibody, JIM 40, recognized changes in LPS that were dependent on osmotic stress. Both modifications on LPS may form part of the adaptive mechanism of this bacterium for saline environments.