Binding of 1251-labeled human chorionic gonadotropin to Pseudomonas maltophifia is dependent on time, temperature, and pH and the binding to this procaryotic species is hormone-specific and saturable. The equilibrium dissociation constant is 2.3 X 10-9 M. There are no cooperative interactions between binding sites (Hill coefficient, 1.05 Stock cultures were maintained on eosin-methylene blue agar plates and nutrient agar slants at room temperature. For binding studies, several small (1-2 mm) granular colonies were inoculated into a sterile tube containing 5 ml of trypticase soy broth, pH 7.4. After overnight incubation at 300 in a shaking water bath, the culture was transferred to a 2-liter sterile flask containing 500 ml of trypticase soy broth and grown to stationary phase at 30掳in a shaking water bath (100 oscillations/ min).* Stationary phase cultures had an optical density (turbidity) at 625 nm of 3.5-9.0, depending on the bacterial strain. Although binding activity was tested twice a day during all phases of growth, maximal binding in P. maltophilia generally occurred within 48 hr after the culture reached stationary phase.Preparation of Bacterial Pellets for Binding Assays. Bacteria were harvested by centrifugation at 20,000 X g for 20 min at 40 and washed twice with an equivalent volume of 40 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4. The pellets were resuspended at a 10-fold concentration in 40 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, containing 10% sucrose. These pellets could be stored at -700 for 6 months without appreciable loss of binding activity. For