Plasmid-encoded catalase KatA, the main catalase of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain Cb36.

The plasmid-state catalase gene katA of the phenol gradative Pseudomonas fluorescens isolate Cb36 has been characterized and shown to be the major catalase of this strain. The predicted amino acid sequence of KatA revealed significant similarity with the catalase sequence from Neisseria meningitidis and has probably the non-pseudomonad origin. The specific activity of catalase was investigated and elevated catalase activity was found in stationary phase cells. The consensus sequence for promoters recognized by the stationary phase sigma factor sigma(s) was found 212 bp upstream of the putative ATG start codon. The ability of KatA to detoxify a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide and protect Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli cells was shown.

Analysis of the 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-degradative plasmid pEST4011 of Achromobacter xylosoxidans subsp. denitrificans strain EST4002.

The 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-degradative bacterium Achromobacter xylosoxidans subsp. denitrificans strain EST4002, isolated in Estonia more than 10years ago, was found to contain the 70kb plasmid pEST4011 that is responsible for the bacterium having had obtained a stable 2,4-D(+) phenotype. The tfd-like genes for 2, 4-D degradation of the strain EST4002 were located on a 10.5kb region of pEST4011, but without functional genes coding for chloromuconate cycloisomerase and chlorodienelactone hydrolase. The latter two genes are probably encoded by homologous, tcb-like genes, located elsewhere on pEST4011. We also present evidence of two copies of insertion element IS1071-like sequences on pEST4011. IS1071 is a class II (Tn3 family) insertion element, associated with different catabolic genes and operons and globally distributed in the recent past. We speculate that this insertion element might have had a role in the formation of plasmid pEST4011. The 28kb plasmid pEST4012 is generated by deletion from pEST4011 when cells of A. xylosoxidans EST4002 are grown in the absence of 2,4-D in growth medium. We propose that this is the result of homologous recombination between the two putative copies of IS1071-like sequences on pEST4011.

TfdR, the LysR-type transcriptional activator, is responsible for the activation of the tfdCB operon of Pseudomonas putida 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradative plasmid pEST4011.

In Pseudomonas putida EST4021, the tfdCB operon of plasmid pEST4011 encodes enzymes involved in 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation. We have identified a gene, tfdR, important for the regulation of the tfdCB operon. Sequence analysis of the tfdR gene revealed an open reading frame with amino acid sequence similar to the LysR family of transcriptional activators. The tfdR gene is located upstream and transcribed divergently from the tfdCB operon. Utilizing primer extension analysis, the transcription initiation sites of the gene tfdR and the tfdCB operon were localized 85 (84)bp and 292bp upstream from the coding sequences of these genes, respectively. Multiple sequence analysis revealed that the genes tfdR, tfdC and tfdB of plasmid pEST4011 are most similar to the regulatory gene tfdR and the module 2 genes tfdC(II) and tfdB(II) of pJP4, respectively. The promoter-operator sequences of tfdR and its target tfdCB operon of pEST4011 have regions with highly conserved nucleotides characteristic for the catechol-subgroup LysR-type transcriptional activators. We showed that the pEST4011 tfdR gene product activates the expression of the tfdCB operon and the effector molecule for TfdR is 2,4-dichloro-cis,cis-muconate. Our data indicate that the structure and the mode of regulation of tfd genes are similar, despite the bacteria being isolated from different geographical regions.

Three types of phenol and p-cresol catabolism in phenol- and p-cresol-degrading bacteria isolated from river water continuously polluted with phenolic compounds.

A total of 39 phenol- and p-cresol-degraders isolated from the river water continuously polluted with phenolic compounds of oil shale leachate were studied. Species identification by BIOLOG GN analysis revealed 21 strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens (4, 8 and 9 of biotypes A, C and G, respectively), 12 of Pseudomonas mendocina, four of Pseudomonas putida biotype A1, one of Pseudomonas corrugata and one of Acinetobacter genospecies 15. Computer-assisted analysis of rep-PCR fingerprints clustered the strains into groups with good concordance with the BIOLOG GN data. Three main catabolic types of degradation of phenol and p-cresol were revealed. Type I, or meta-meta type (15 strains), was characterized by meta cleavage of catechol by catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) during the growth on phenol and p-cresol. These strains carried C23O genes which gave PCR products with specific xylE-gene primers. Type II, or ortho-ortho type (13 strains), was characterized by the degradation of phenol through ortho fission of catechol by catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C12O) and p-cresol via ortho cleavage of protocatechuic acid by protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (PC34O). These strains carried phenol monooxygenase gene which gave PCR products with pheA-gene primers. Type III, or meta-ortho type (11 strains), was characterized by the degradation of phenol by C23O and p-cresol via the protocatechuate ortho pathway by the induction of PC34O and this carried C23O genes which gave PCR products with C23O-gene primers, but not with specific xylE-gene primers. In type III strains phenol also induced the p-cresol protocatechuate pathway, as revealed by the induction of p-cresol methylhydroxylase. These results demonstrate multiplicity of catabolic types of degradation of phenol and p-cresol and the existence of characteristic assemblages of species and specific genotypes among the strains isolated from the polluted river water.

Comparison of API 20NE and Biolog GN identification systems assessed by techniques of multivariate analyses.

The increasing use of commercial multitest systems for identification of environmental bacteria creates the problem of how to compare the identification results obtained from different systems. The limited use of species designations in such comparisons is caused by low usage of environmental bacteria in the development of commercial identification schemes. Two multivariate statistical methods, the Mantel's test and the co-inertia analysis, were applied to analyze data derived from the Biolog GN and the API 20NE systems of identification for 50 environmental bacterial strains. We found these two methods to be useful for revealing the relationship between the two sets of numerical taxonomic traits. Both of these methods showed that the distances according to the Biolog GN results between the studied strains were related to those derived from the API 20NE results, despite the differences in the test sets of the two systems. In addition, the co-inertia analysis allowed us to visualise the relationships between classifications of strains derived from the two identification systems and, simultaneously, to estimate the contribution of particular tests to the differentiation of bacterial strains.

Acquisition of a deliberately introduced phenol degradation operon, pheBA, by different indigenous Pseudomonas species.

Horizontal transfer of genes of selective value in an environment 6 years after their introduction into a watershed has been observed. Expression of the gene pheA, which encodes phenol monooxygenase and is linked to the pheBA operon (A. Nurk, L. Kasak, and M. Kivisaar, Gene 102:13-18, 1991), allows pseudomonads to use phenol as a growth substrate. Pseudomonas putida strains carrying this operon on a plasmid were used for bioremediation after an accidental fire in the Estonia oil shale mine in Estonia in 1988. The water samples used for studying the fate of the genes introduced were collected in 1994. The same gene cluster was also detected in Pseudomonas strains isolated from water samples of a nearby watershed which has been continuously polluted with phenols due to oil shale industry leachate. Together with the more frequently existing counterparts of the dmp genes (V. Shingler, J. Powlowski, and U. Marklund, J. Bacteriol. 174:711-724, 1992), the pheA gene was also represented in the phenol-degrading strains. The area where the strains containing the pheA gene were found was restricted to the regular route of phenolic leachate to the Baltic Sea. Nine Pseudomonas strains belonging to four different species (P. corrugata, P. fragi, P. stutzeri, and P. fluorescens biotypes B, C, and F) and harboring horizontally transferred pheBA operons were investigated. The phe genes were clustered in the same manner in these nine phe operons and were connected to the same promoter as in the case of the original pheBA operon. One 10.6-kb plasmid carrying a pheBA gene cluster was sequenced, and the structure of the rearranged pheBA operon was described. This data indicates that introduced genetic material could, if it encodes a beneficial capability, enrich the natural genetic variety for biodegradation.

Sequence analysis of the 2,4-dichlorophenol hydroxylase gene tfdB and 3,5-dichlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase gene tfdC of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degrading plasmid pEST4011.

Chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase (CC12O) and 1,2-dichlorophenol hydroxylase (DCPH) encoding genes tfdC and tfdB are located on a 4.2-kb DNA fragment cloned from the 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4D) degrading plasmid pEST4011. The nucleotide sequences of tfdC and tfdB were determined. The DCPH is coded by a 1758-bp gene and CC12O is coded by a 762-bp gene. The deduced M(r) of these proteins are 64.09 kDa and 28.2 kDa, respectively. Expression analysis of tfdB and tfdC in Escherichia coli suggested that these genes form one operon, tfdCB.

Transposon-mediated mobilization of chromosomally located catabolic operons of the CAM plasmid by TOL plasmid transposon Tn4652 and CAM plasmid transposon Tn3614.

The CAM (camphor degradation) plasmid is integrated into the chromosome of Pseudomonas putida PaW-line strains and is not self-transferable as a plasmid via conjugation. Our results show that the mobilization of chromosomally located CAM and the integration of cam-operons into the chromosome of the new Cam+ transconjugants is a recA-independent process mediated by transposons Tn4652 (17 kbp) and Tn3614 (7.2 kbp). Transposon Tn3614 is apparently identical to the left-hand and the right-hand sequences of the TOL plasmid pWW0 transposon Tn4654. The insertion of Tn401 inside the left-hand terminal IR of Tn4652 completely inhibited the mobilization of CAM. According to our data transposons Tn4652 and Tn3614 together with CAM plasmid catabolic operons are integrated into the chromosome. We propose that in pseudomonads the transposons Tn4652 and Tn3614 play a key role in the evolution and spread of new catabolic plasmids in nature.

New derivatives of TOL plasmid pWW0.

Two new segregants, PPW1-1 and PPW161-1, of Pseudomonas putida were isolated from the stock cultures PaW85(pWW0) and PaW85(pWW0-161). Strain PPW1-1 had lost its ability to grow on m-xylene but was able to grow on m-toluate. A deletion of the left-hand of transposon Tn4651, including the upper-operon genes, had taken place in plasmid pWW0mut1, isolated from strain PPW1-1. Additional deletions were observed in pWW0mut1 after 'benzoate-curing' (plasmids pWW0mut15, pWW0mut19, pWW0mut27). The genes of the upper-operon and beginning of the meta-operon were deleted from pWW0-161mut1, isolated from strain PPW161-1. Despite this deletion, cells of PPW161-1 grew on all normal TOL plasmid substrates. The Tol+ phenotype was stable in cells of PPW161-1 growing on benzoate. We propose that this is because in cells of strain PPW161-1 the catabolic genes deleted from pWW0-161mut1 were integrated into the chromosome at the site where the (chromosomally encoded) ortho-pathway genes are located, resulting in the inability of the cells to use this pathway.

Selection of independent plasmids determining phenol degradation in Pseudomonas putida and the cloning and expression of genes encoding phenol monooxygenase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase.

Long-term cultivation of the Pseudomonas putida multiplasmid strain EST1020 on phenol resulted in the formation of individual PHE plasmids determining phenol degradation. Four types of PHE plasmids, pEST1024, pEST1026, pEST1028, and pEST1029, are characterized. They all contain a transferrable replicon similar to pWWO-8 with a partly duplicated DNA sequence of the 17-kb transposable element of this plasmid and include various amounts of DNA that carry genes encoding phenol degradation (phe genes). We cloned the genes determining phenol monooxygenase and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase from the Pseudomonas sp. parent strain plasmid DNA into the broad host range vector pAYC32 and studied the expression of the cloned DNA. The formation of a new hybrid metabolic plasmid, pEST1354, was demonstrated in P. putida PaW85 as the result of transposition of the 17-kb genetic element from the chromosome of PaW85 into the plasmid carrying cloned phe genes. The target site for the 17-kb transposon was localized in the vector DNA, just near the cloning site. In subcloning experiments we found two regions in the 17-kb DNA stretch that are involved in the expression of the cloned phe genes.

Degradation of phenol and m-toluate in Pseudomonas sp. strain EST1001 and its Pseudomonas putida transconjugants is determined by a multiplasmid system.

The utilization of phenol, m-toluate, and salicylate (Phe+, mTol+, and Sal+ characters, respectively) in Pseudomonas sp. strain EST1001 is determined by the coordinated expression of genes placed in different plasmids, i.e., by a multiplasmid system. The natural multiplasmid strain EST1001 is phenotypically unstable. In its Phe-, mTol-, and Sal- segregants, the plasmid DNA underwent structural rearrangements without a marked loss of plasmid DNA, and the majority of segregants gave revertants. The genes specifying the degradation of phenol and m-toluate were transferable to P. putida PaW340, and in this strain a new multiplasmid system with definite structural changes was formed. The 17-kilobase transposable element, a part of the TOL plasmid pWWO present in the chromosome of PaW340, was inserted into the plasmid DNA in transconjugants. In addition, transconjugant EST1020 shared pWWO-like structures. Enzyme assays demonstrated that ortho-fission reactions were used by bacteria that grew on phenol, whereas m-toluate was catabolized by a meta-fission reaction. Salicylate was a functional inducer of the enzymes of both pathways. The expression of silent metabolic pathways of phenol or m-toluate degradation has been observed in EST1001 Phe- mTol+ and Phe+ mTol- transconjugants. The switchover of phenol degradation from the ortho- to the meta-pathway in EST1033 also showed the flexibility of genetic material in EST1001 transconjugants.

Molecular relationships of degradative plasmids determined by in situ hybridisation of their endonuclease-generated fragments.

Plasmid inter-relationships were studied by hybridisation of a radioactively labelled DNA probe to endonuclease-derived fragmentation patterns of plasmids bound to a nitrocellulose filter. The degradative plasmids SAL and NAH were found to be very closely related, but probably one did not give rise to the other by just a single deletion or insertion. Relationships between SAL and other degradative plasmids are complex; substantial homology was found with TOL and other plasmids encoding toluate dissimilation and significant homology was found with OCT.