Genes, Enzymes, and Regulation of para-Cresol Metabolism in Geobacter metallireducens

ABSTRACT

In aerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria, the degradation of para-cresol (p-cresol) involves the initial hydroxylation to p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol by water catalyzed by the soluble, periplasmatic flavocytochrome p-cresol methylhydroxylase (PCMH; α₂β₂ composition). In denitrifying bacteria the further metabolism proceeds via oxidation to p-hydroxybenzoate, the formation of p-hydroxybenzoyl-coenzyme A (CoA), and the subsequent dehydroxylation of the latter to benzoyl-CoA by reduction. In contrast, the strictly anaerobic Desulfobacterium cetonicum degrades p-cresol by addition to fumarate, yielding p-hydroxybenzylsuccinate. In this work, in vitro enzyme activity measurements revealed that the obligately anaerobic Geobacter metallireducens uses the p-cresol degradation pathway of denitrifying bacteria. Surprisingly, PCMH, which is supposed to catalyze both p-cresol hydroxylation and p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol oxidation to the corresponding aldehyde, was located in the membrane fraction. The α subunit of the enzyme was present in two isoforms, suggesting an αα′β₂ composition. We propose that the unusual asymmetric architecture and the membrane association of PCMH might be important for alternative electron transfer routes to either cytochrome c (in the case of p-cresol oxidation) or to menaquinone (in the case of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol oxidation). Unusual properties of further enzymes of p-cresol metabolism, p-hydroxybenzoate-CoA ligase, and p-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA reductase were identified and are discussed. A proteomic approach identified a gene cluster comprising most of the putative structural genes for enzymes involved in p-cresol metabolism (pcm genes). Reverse transcription-PCR studies revealed a different regulation of transcription of pcm genes and the corresponding enzyme activities, suggesting the presence of posttranscriptional regulatory elements.