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Journal of Bacteriology, June 1999, p. 3452-3461, Vol. 181, No. 11
Division of Microbiology, GBF - National
Research Centre for Biotechnology, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
Received 17 November 1998/Accepted 16 March 1999
The bacterium Sphingomonas sp. strain RW1 is able to
use dibenzo-p-dioxin, dibenzofuran, and several
hydroxylated derivatives as sole sources of carbon and energy. We
have determined and analyzed the nucleic acid sequence of a 9,997-bp
HindIII fragment downstream of cistrons
dxnA1A2, which encode the dioxygenase component of the initial dioxygenase system of the corresponding catabolic pathways.
This fragment contains 10 colinear open reading frames (ORFs),
apparently organized in one compact operon. The enzymatic activities of
some proteins encoded by these genes were analyzed in the strain RW1
and, after hyperexpression, in Escherichia
coli. The first three ORFs of the locus, designated
dxnC, ORF2, and fdx3, specify a protein
with a low homology to bacterial siderophore receptors, a polypeptide representing no significant homology to
known proteins, and a putative ferredoxin, respectively.
dxnD encodes a 69-kDa phenol monooxygenase-like protein
with activity for the turnover of 4-hydroxysalicylate, and
dxnE codes for a 37-kDa protein whose sequence and
activity are similar to those of known maleylacetate reductases.
The following gene, dxnF, encodes a 33-kDa
intradiol dioxygenase which efficiently cleaves hydroxyquinol, yielding maleylacetate, the ketoform of
3-hydroxy-cis,cis-muconate. The heteromeric protein
encoded by dxnGH is a 3-oxoadipate succinyl coenzyme A
(succinyl-CoA) transferase, whereas dxnI specifies a
protein exhibiting marked homology to acetyl-CoA acetyltransferases (thiolases). The last ORF of the sequenced fragment codes for a
putative transposase. DxnD, DxnF, DxnE, DxnGH, and DxnI (the activities
of most of them have also been detected in strain RW1) thus form a
complete 4-hydroxysalicylate/hydroxyquinol degradative pathway. A
route for the mineralization of the growth substrates 3-hydroxydibenzofuran and 2-hydroxydibenzo-p-dioxin in
Sphingomonas sp. strain RW1 thus suggests itself.
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Functional 4-Hydroxysalicylate/Hydroxyquinol Degradative
Pathway Gene Cluster Is Linked to the Initial
Dibenzo-p-Dioxin Pathway Genes in
Sphingomonas sp. Strain RW1
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Institut de
Biologie Structurale, IBS - LSMP, 41 avenue des Martyrs, F-38027
Grenoble Cedex 1, France. Phone: 33-4-76-88-30-37. Fax:
33-4-76-88-54-94. E-mail: jean.armengaud{at}ibs.fr.
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