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Journal of Bacteriology, April 1999, p. 2050-2058, Vol. 181, No. 7
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Degradation of 1,2-Dibromoethane by Mycobacterium sp. Strain GP1

Gerrit J. Poelarends,¹ Johan E. T. van Hylckama Vlieg,¹ Julian R. Marchesi,² Luisa M. Freitas Dos Santos,^3, and Dick B. Janssen^1,*

Department of Biochemistry, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands,¹ and School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, Cardiff CF1 3TL,² and Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology, Imperial College, London SW7 2BY,³ United Kingdom

Received 23 September 1998/Accepted 18 January 1999

The newly isolated bacterial strain GP1 can utilize 1,2-dibromoethane as the sole carbon and energy source. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the organism was identified as a member of the subgroup which contains the fast-growing mycobacteria. The first step in 1,2-dibromoethane metabolism is catalyzed by a hydrolytic haloalkane dehalogenase. The resulting 2-bromoethanol is rapidly converted to ethylene oxide by a haloalcohol dehalogenase, in this way preventing the accumulation of 2-bromoethanol and 2-bromoacetaldehyde as toxic intermediates. Ethylene oxide can serve as a growth substrate for strain GP1, but the pathway(s) by which it is further metabolized is still unclear. Strain GP1 can also utilize 1-chloropropane, 1-bromopropane, 2-bromoethanol, and 2-chloroethanol as growth substrates. 2-Chloroethanol and 2-bromoethanol are metabolized via ethylene oxide, which for both haloalcohols is a novel way to remove the halide without going through the corresponding acetaldehyde intermediate. The haloalkane dehalogenase gene was cloned and sequenced. The dehalogenase (DhaA_f) encoded by this gene is identical to the haloalkane dehalogenase (DhaA) of Rhodococcus rhodochrous NCIMB 13064, except for three amino acid substitutions and a 14-amino-acid extension at the C terminus. Alignments of the complete dehalogenase gene region of strain GP1 with DNA sequences in different databases showed that a large part of a dhaA gene region, which is also present in R. rhodochrous NCIMB 13064, was fused to a fragment of a haloalcohol dehalogenase gene that was identical to the last 42 nucleotides of the hheB gene found in Corynebacterium sp. strain N-1074.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-50-3634209. Fax: 31-50-3634165. E-mail: d.b.janssen{at}chem.rug.nl.

Present address: SmithKline Beecham, Tonbridge TN11 9AN, Kent, United Kingdom.

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Journal of Bacteriology, April 1999, p. 2050-2058, Vol. 181, No. 7
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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