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Journal of Bacteriology, January 1999, p. 341-346, Vol. 181, No. 1
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Genetic and Biochemical Analyses of the tec Operon Suggest a Route for Evolution of Chlorobenzene Degradation Genes

Stefan Beil, Kenneth N. Timmis, and Dietmar H. Pieper*

Division of Microbiology, GBF-National Research Centre for Biotechnology, Braunschweig, Germany

Received 1 July 1998/Accepted 14 October 1998

The TecA broad-spectrum chlorobenzene dioxygenase of Burkholderia sp. strain PS12 catalyzes the first step in the mineralization of 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene. The catabolic genes were localized on a small plasmid that belongs to the IncPbeta incompatibility group. PCR analysis of the genetic environment of the tec genes indicated high similarity to the transposon-organized catabolic tcb chlorobenzene degradation genes of Pseudomonas sp. strain P51. Sequence analysis of the regions flanking the tecA genes revealed an upstream open reading frame (ORF) with high similarity to the todF 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-2,4-heptadienoate hydrolase gene of Pseudomonas putida F1 and a discontinuous downstream ORF showing high similarity to the todE catechol 2,3-dioxygenase gene of strain F1. Both homologues in strain P51 exist only as deletion remnants. We suggest that different genetic events thus led to inactivation of the perturbing meta-cleavage enzymes in strains P51 and PS12 during the evolution of efficient chlorobenzene degradation pathways. Biochemical characterization of TodF-like protein TlpF and a genetically refunctionalized TodE-like protein, TlpE, produced in Escherichia coli provided data consistent with the proposed relationships.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Bereich Mikrobiologie, AG Biodegradation, Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Mascheroder Weg 1, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany. Phone: 49/(0)5 31/61 81-4 67. Fax: 49/(0)5 31/61 81-4 11. E-mail: dpi{at}gbf.de.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 1999, p. 341-346, Vol. 181, No. 1
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Rapp, P., Gabriel-Jurgens, L. H. E. (2003). Degradation of alkanes and highly chlorinated benzenes, and production of biosurfactants, by a psychrophilic Rhodococcus sp. and genetic characterization of its chlorobenzene dioxygenase. Microbiology 149: 2879-2890 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pollmann, K., Kaschabek, S., Wray, V., Reineke, W., Pieper, D. H. (2002). Metabolism of Dichloromethylcatechols as Central Intermediates in the Degradation of Dichlorotoluenes by Ralstonia sp. Strain PS12. J. Bacteriol. 184: 5261-5274 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pollmann, K., Beil, S., Pieper, D. H. (2001). Transformation of Chlorinated Benzenes and Toluenes by Ralstonia sp. Strain PS12 tecA (Tetrachlorobenzene Dioxygenase) and tecB (Chlorobenzene Dihydrodiol Dehydrogenase) Gene Products. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 4057-4063 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
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