Choline Sulfate Permease: Transfer of Information from Bacteria

to Higher Flants?

Abstract. A permease (and sulfatase) for choline sulfate can be
induced in plant tissues in the presence of certain bacteria.
Induced plant transport requires induction of the corresponding
bacterial permease, contact between induced bacterig and plant
tissue, and plant protein synthesis. These requirements indicate

a transfer of information from bacteria to plants.

This report (1) describes bacteria~mediated transport of choline
sulfate by higher plants. The mechanism of interaction between
bacteria and plants is not known, but may represent a new type of

information transfer.

Choline sulfate has been found in fungi (2), lichens (3), algae (4, 5),
and higher plants (5, 6). It is formed by the transfer of sulfate
from 3'-phosphoadenosine~5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to choline by
choline sulfotransferase (7). It is hydrolyzed by choline sulfa-

tase (8, 9), and is believed to function as a reservoir of sulfate.
Choline sulfate is transported constitutively by filamentous fungi (10)

and higher plants (11, 12) by one or more mechanisms.

In a study of the transport of choline sulfate by excised barley

roots, I found that the transport was linear for short periods, but