Protein secretion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: the xcpA gene encodes an integral inner membrane protein homologous to Klebsiella pneumoniae secretion function protein PulO.

xcp mutations have pleiotropic effects on the secretion of proteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO. The nucleotide sequence of a 1.2-kb DNA fragment that complements the xcp-1 mutation has been determined. Sequence analysis shows the xcpA gene product to be a 31.8-kDa polypeptide, with a highly hydrophobic character. This is consistent with a localization in the cytoplasmic membrane in P. aeruginosa, determined after specific expression of the xcpA gene under control of the T7 phi 10 promoter. A very strong homology was found between XcpA and PulO, a membrane protein required for pullulanase secretion in Klebsiella pneumoniae. This suggests the existence of a signal sequence-dependent secretion process common to these two unrelated gram-negative bacteria.