scholarly journals Identification of a Novel Dioxygenase Involved in Metabolism of o-Xylene, Toluene, and Ethylbenzene by Rhodococcus sp. Strain DK17

2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 7086-7092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dockyu Kim ◽  
Jong-Chan Chae ◽  
Gerben J. Zylstra ◽  
Young-Soo Kim ◽  
Seong-Ki Kim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Rhodococcus sp. strain DK17 is able to grow on o-xylene, benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. DK17 harbors at least two megaplasmids, and the genes encoding the initial steps in alkylbenzene metabolism are present on the 330-kb pDK2. The genes encoding alkylbenzene degradation were cloned in a cosmid clone and sequenced completely to reveal 35 open reading frames (ORFs). Among the ORFs, we identified two nearly exact copies (one base difference) of genes encoding large and small subunits of an iron sulfur protein terminal oxygenase that are 6 kb apart from each other. Immediately downstream of one copy of the dioxygenase genes (akbA1a and akbA2a ) is a gene encoding a dioxygenase ferredoxin component (akbA3), and downstream of the other copy (akbA1b and akbA2b ) are genes putatively encoding a meta-cleavage pathway. RT-PCR experiments show that the two copies of the dioxygenase genes are operonic with the downstream putative catabolic genes and that both operons are induced by o-xylene. When expressed in Escherichia coli, AkbA1a-AkbA2a-AkbA3 transformed o-xylene into 2,3- and 3,4-dimethylphenol. These were apparently derived from an unstable o-xylene cis-3,4-dihydrodiol, which readily dehydrates. This indicates a single point of attack of the dioxygenase on the aromatic ring. In contrast, attack of AkbA1a-AkbA2a-AkbA3 on ethylbenzene resulted in the formation of two different cis-dihydrodiols resulting from an oxidation at the 2,3 and the 3,4 positions on the aromatic ring, respectively.

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 2491-2497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Bathe ◽  
Paul R. Norris

ABSTRACT Genes of Sulfolobus metallicus that appeared to be upregulated in relation to growth on either ferrous iron or sulfur were identified using subtractive hybridization of cDNAs. The genes upregulated during growth on ferrous iron were found in a cluster, and most were predicted to encode membrane proteins. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR of cDNA showed upregulation of most of these genes during growth on ferrous iron and pyrite compared to results during growth on sulfur. The highest expression levels observed included those for genes encoding proteins with similarities to cytochrome c oxidase subunits and a CbsA-like cytochrome. The genes identified here that may be involved in oxidation of ferrous iron by S. metallicus are termed fox genes. Of three available genomes of Sulfolobus species (S. tokodaii, S. acidocaldarius, and S. solfataricus), only that of S. tokodaii has a cluster of highly similar open reading frames, and only S. tokodaii of these three species was also able to oxidize ferrous iron. A gene encoding sulfur oxygenase-reductase was identified as the source of the dominant transcript in sulfur-grown cells of S. metallicus, with the predicted protein showing high identities to the previously described examples from S. tokodaii and species of Acidianus.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (16) ◽  
pp. 4258-4269 ◽  
Author(s):  
George C. Paoli ◽  
Padungsri Vichivanives ◽  
F. Robert Tabita

ABSTRACT The genes encoding enzymes of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) reductive pentose phosphate pathway in Rhodobacter capsulatus are organized in at least two operons, each preceded by a separate cbbR gene, encoding potential LysR-type transcriptional activators. As a prelude to studies ofcbb gene regulation in R. capsulatus, the nucleotide sequence of a 4,537-bp region, which includedcbbR II, was determined. This region contained the following open reading frames: a partial pgmgene (encoding phosphoglucomutase) and a complete qorgene (encoding NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase), followed by cbbR II, cbbF (encoding fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase), cbbP (encoding phosphoribulokinase), and part of cbbT (encoding transketolase). Physiological control of the CBB pathway and regulation of the R. capsulatus cbb genes were studied by using a combination of mutant strains and promoter fusion constructs. Characterization of mutant strains revealed that either form I or form II ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO), encoded by the cbbLS andcbbM genes, respectively, could support photoheterotrophic and autotrophic growth. A strain with disruptions in both cbbL and cbbM could not grow autotrophically and grew photoheterotrophically only when dimethyl sulfoxide was added to the culture medium. Disruption ofcbbP resulted in a strain that did not synthesize form II RubisCO and had a phenotype similar to that observed in the RubisCO-minus strain, suggesting that there is only onecbbP gene in R. capsulatus and that this gene is cotranscribed with cbbM. Analysis of RubisCO activity and synthesis in strains with disruptions in eithercbbR I orcbbR II, and β-galactosidase determinations from wild-type and mutant strains containing cbb Ip- andcbb IIp-lacZ fusion constructs, indicated that the cbb I andcbb II operons of R. capsulatus are within separate CbbR regulons.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (19) ◽  
pp. 6802-6807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemente I. Montero ◽  
Derrick L. Lewis ◽  
Matthew R. Johnson ◽  
Shannon B. Conners ◽  
Elizabeth A. Nance ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In the genome of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima, TM0504 encodes a putative signaling peptide implicated in population density-dependent exopolysaccharide formation. Although not noted in the original genome annotation, TM0504 was found to colocate, on the opposite strand, with the gene encoding ssrA, a hybrid of tRNA and mRNA (tmRNA), which is involved in a trans-translation process related to ribosome rescue and is ubiquitous in bacteria. Specific DNA probes were designed and used in real-time PCR assays to follow the separate transcriptional responses of the colocated open reading frames (ORFs) during transition from exponential to stationary phase, chloramphenicol challenge, and syntrophic coculture with Methanococcus jannaschii. TM0504 transcription did not vary under normal growth conditions. Transcription of the tmRNA gene, however, was significantly up-regulated during chloramphenicol challenge and in T. maritima bound in exopolysaccharide aggregates during methanogenic coculture. The significance of the colocation of ORFs encoding a putative signaling peptide and tmRNA in T. maritima is intriguing, since this overlapping arrangement (tmRNA associated with putative small ORFs) was found to be conserved in at least 181 bacterial genomes sequenced to date. Whether peptides related to TM0504 in other bacteria play a role in quorum sensing is not yet known, but their ubiquitous colocalization with respect to tmRNA merits further examination.


Microbiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 160 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsu Shimizu ◽  
Akira Nakamura

Five genes encoding enzymes required for l-gluconate catabolism, together with genes encoding components of putative ABC transporters, are located in a cluster in the genome of Paracoccus sp. 43P. A gene encoding a transcriptional regulator in the IclR family, lgnR, is located in front of the cluster in the opposite direction. Reverse transcription PCR analysis indicated that the cluster was transcribed as an operon, termed the lgn operon. Two promoters, P lgnA and P lgnR , are divergently located in the intergenic region, and transcription from these promoters was induced by addition of l-gluconate or d-idonate, a catabolite of l-gluconate. Deletion of lgnR resulted in constitutive expression of lgnA, lgnH and lgnR, indicating that lgnR encodes a repressor protein for the expression of the lgn operon and lgnR itself. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and DNase I footprinting analyses revealed that recombinant LgnR binds to both P lgnA and P lgnR , indicating that LgnR represses transcription from these promoters by competing with RNA polymerase for binding to these sequences. d-Idonate was identified as a candidate effector molecule for dissociation of LgnR from these promoters. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that LgnR formed a cluster with putative proteins from other genome sequences, which is distinct from those proteins of known regulatory functions, in the IclR family of transcriptional regulators. Additionally, the phylogeny suggests an evolutionary linkage between the l-gluconate catabolic pathway and d-galactonate catabolic pathways distributed in Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace A. Blackwell ◽  
Ruth M. Hall

ABSTRACT The tet39 tetracycline resistance determinant and the macrolide resistance genes msrE and mphE were found in an 18.2-kb plasmid, pS30-1, recovered from a global clone 2 (GC2) Acinetobacter baumannii isolate from Singapore, that conferred resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin. pS30-1 also contains mobA and mobC genes encoding MOBQ family proteins, but attempts to mobilize pS30-1 utilizing a coresident conjugative repAci6 plasmid were unsuccessful. Eight pdif sites, consisting of inversely oriented binding sites for the XerC and XerD recombinases separated by 6 bp, were detected in pS30-1. The tet39 determinant and the msrE-mphE gene pair are each surrounded by two pdif sites in inverse orientation. Identical regions in different contexts and many previously unnoticed pdif sites were found in a number of different plasmids in GenBank, showing that the tet39 and msrE-mphE dif modules are mobile. A putative toxin/antitoxin system, a gene encoding a serine recombinase, and open reading frames of unknown function were also part of dif modules in pS30-1. In general, modules with internal XerC or XerD sites alternate. Two copies of ISAjo2-1 (94% identical to ISAjo2) in pS30-1 were inserted 5 bp from a XerC site, and this appears to be the preferred insertion site for this insertion sequence (IS) group. Apparently, Acinetobacter plasmids exploit the Acinetobacter XerC-XerD recombinases to mobilize DNA units containing resistance and other genes, via an uncharacterized mechanism. The tet39 and msrE-mphE dif modules add to the oxa24 module and the oxa58 module redefined here, bringing the total of resistance gene-containing dif modules in Acinetobacter plasmids to four.


2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (23) ◽  
pp. 6172-6181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aishwarya V. Ramaswamy ◽  
Anthony T. Maurelli

ABSTRACT Lipoic acid is an essential protein bound cofactor that is vital for the functioning of several important enzymes involved in central metabolism. Genomes of all sequenced chlamydiae show the presence of two genes encoding lipoic acid ligases and one gene encoding a lipoate synthase. However, the roles of these proteins in lipoic acid utilization or biosynthesis have not yet been characterized. The two distinct lipoic acid ligases in Chlamydia trachomatis serovar L2, LplA1Ct and LplA2Ct (encoded by the open reading frames ctl0537 and ctl0761) display moderate identity with Escherichia coli LplA (30 and 27%, respectively) but possess amino acid sequence motifs that are well conserved among all lipoyl protein ligases. The putative lipoic acid synthase LipACt, encoded by ctl0815, is ca. 43% identical to the E. coli LipA homolog. We demonstrate here the presence of lipoylated proteins in C. trachomatis serovar L2 and show that the lipoic acid ligase LplA1Ct is capable of utilizing exogenous lipoic acid for the lipoylation Therefore, host-derived lipoic acid may be important for intracellular growth and development. Based on genetic complementation in a surrogate host, our study also suggests that the C. trachomatis serovar L2 LipA homolog may not be functional in vivo.


2002 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 697-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Villemur ◽  
Maude Saucier ◽  
Annie Gauthier ◽  
Réjean Beaudet

Desulfitobacterium frappieri PCP-1 has the capacity to dehalogenate several halogenated aromatic compounds by reductive dehalogenation, however, the genes encoding the enzymes involved in such processes have not yet been identified. Using a degenerate oligonucleotide corresponding to a conserved sequence of CprA/PceA reductive dehalogenases, a cprA-like gene fragment was amplified by PCR from this bacterial strain. A Delfitobacterium frappieri PCP-1 cosmid library was screened with the PCR product, allowing the cloning and sequencing of a 1.9-kb fragment. This fragment contains a nucleic acid sequence identical to one genomic contig of Desulfitobacterium hafniense, a bacterium closely related to Delfitobacterium frappieri that is also involved in reductive dehalogenation. Other genes related to the Desulfitobacterium dehalogenans cpr locus were identified in this contig. Interestingly, the gene arrangement shows the presence of two copies of cprA-, cprB-, cprC-, cprD-, cprK-, and cprT-related genes, suggesting that gene duplication occurred within this chromosomic region. The screening of Delfitobacterium hafniense genomic contigs with a CprA-deduced amino acid sequence revealed two other cprA-like genes. Microbial genomes available in gene databases were also analyzed for sequences related to CprA/PceA. Two open reading frames encoding other putative reductive dehalogenases in Delfitobacterium hafniense contigs were detected, along with 17 in the Dehalococcoides ethenogenes genome, a bacterium involved in the reductive dehalogenation of tetrachloroethene to ethene. The fact that several gene encoding putative reductive dehalogenases exist in Delfitobacterium hafniense, probably in other members of the genus Desulfitobacterium, and in Dehalococcoides ethenogenes suggests that these bacteria use distinct but related enzymes to achieve the dehalogenation of several chlorinated compounds.Key words: Desulfitobacterium, reductive dehalogenases, halorespiration, chlorinated compounds, gene family.


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