• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2000

Nucleotide sequence extending 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase gene (pcbC) and 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoate hydrolase gene (pcbD) of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 was previously analyzed and the two genes were present in the order of pcbD-pcbC preceded by a promoter from Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12. In this study, a 3.8-kb nucleotide sequence located downstream of the pcbC gene was analyzed to have three open reading frames (ORFs) that are designated as orf1, pcbE and orf2 genes. All of the ORFs were preceded by each ribosome-binding sequence of 5-GGAXA-3 (X=G or A). However, no promoter-like sequence and transcription terminator sequence were found in the analyzed region, downstream of pcbC gene. Therefore, the gene cluster appeared to be present in the order of pcbD-pcbC-orf1-pcbE-orf2 as an operon, which is unique organization characterized so far in biphenyl- and PCB-degrading bacteria. The orf1 gene was composed of 1,224 base pairs which can encode a polypeptide of molecular weight 44,950 containing 405 amino acid residues. A deduced amino acid sequence of the orf1 gene product exhibited 21-33％ identity with those of indole dioxygenase and phenol hydroxylase components. The pcbE gene was composed of 783 base pairs encoding 2-hydroxypenta-2,4-dienoate hydratase involved in the 4-chlorobiphenyl catabolism. The orf2 gene was composed of 1,017 base pairs encoding a polypeptide of molecular weight 37,378 containing 338 amino acid residues. A deduced amino acid sequence of the orf2 gene product exhibited 31％ identity with that of a nitrilotriacetate monooxygenase component.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.340-343
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• 2002

A PCB degrader, Ralstonia eutropha H850 was shown to induce bphC gene encoding 2,3-dihydroxy-biphenyl-1,2-dioxygenase in a carvone-amended pure culture in our previous study (Park et al.,1999). The present study was carried out to examine how plant terpenes, as natural substrates, would cause an expression of a PCB degradative gene in soil that was amended with terpenes. The population of Ralstonia eutropha H850 was maintained at least around 10$\^$8/ (CFU/g fresh soil) in the soil amended with carvone or limonene in the presence of succinate as a growth substrate at 50 th day. The gene expression was monitored by RT-PCR using total RNA directly extracted from each soil and bphC gene primers. The bphC gene expression of the seeded strain H850 was observed in the soil amended with biphenyl (4 days) but not with succinate, carvone and limonene. These results indicate that terpenes widely distributed in nature could be a potential inducing substrate for effective PCB biodegration in the soil but their bioavailability and specific induction behavior should be taken into account before PCB bioremediation implementation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.258-263
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• 2000

2-Hydroxy-6-oxo-6phenylhexa-2,4-dienoate (HOPDA) hydrolase catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of HOPDA to bemzpate and 2-hydroxypenta-2, 4-dienoate (HPD) during microbial catabolism of biphenyl and polychlorinated biphenyls. A HOPDA hydrolase gene (pcbD) was isolated from the genomic library of Pseudomonas sp. P20 and designated as pCNUO1201; a 7.5-kb XbaI DNA fragment from Pseudomonas sp. P20 was inserted into the pBluescript SK(+) XbaI site. E. coli HB101 harboring pCNU1201 exhibited HOPDA hydrolase activity. The open reading frame (ORF) corresponding to the pcbD gene consisted of 855 base pairs with an ATG initiation codon and a TGA termination codon. The ORF was preceded by a rebosome-binding sequence of 5'-TGGAGC-3' and its G+C content was 55 mol%. The pcbD gene of Pseudomonas sp. P20 was located immedeately downstream of the pcbC gene encoding 2,3- dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase, and approximately 4-kb upstream of the pcbE gene encoding HPD hydratase. The pcbK gene was able to encode a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 31,732 containing 284 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the HOPDA hydrolase of Pseudomonas sp. P20 exhibited high identity (62%) with those of the HOPDA hydrolases of P. putida KF715, P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707, and Burkholderia cepacia LB400, and also significant homology with those of other hydrolytic enzymes including esterase, transferase, and peptidase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 1994

Pseudomonas sp. P20 was a bacterial isolate which has the ability to degrade 4-chlorobi- phenyl(4CB) to 4-chlorobenzoic acid via the process of meta-cleavage. The recombinant plasmid pCK1 was constructed by insetting the 14-kb EcoRI fragment of the chromosomal DNA containing the 4CB-degrading genes into the vector pBluescript SK(+). Subsequently, E. coli XL1-Blue was transformed with the hybrid plasmid producing the recombinant E. coli CK1. The recombinant cells degraded 4CB and 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl(2,3-DHBP) by the pcbAB and pcbCD gene products, respectively. The pcbC gene was expressed most abundantly at the late exponential phase in E. coli CK1 as well as in Pseudomonas sp. P20, and the level of the pcbC gene product, 2,3-DHBP dioxygenase, expressed in E. coli CK1 was about two-times higher than in Pseudomonas sp. P20. The activities of 2,3-DHBP dioxygenase on catechol and 3-methylcatechol were about 26 to 31% of its activity on 2,3-DHBP, but the enzyme did not reveal any activities on 4-methylcatechol and 4-chlorocatechol.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.812-818
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• 2001

Alginate and alginate-derived oligomannuronate enhanced penicillin production in shake flask and fermentor cultures of Penicillium chrysogenum Wis 54-1255 (containing a single copy of the penicillin gene cluster) and in the high producter strain P. chrysogenum AS-P-99 (containing multiple copies of the penicillin gene cluster). Alginate was not used as a single carbon source by P. chryogenum. The stimulatory effect on penicillin production was observed in a defined medium and, to a lower extent, in a complex production medium containing corn steep liquor. Alginate-supplemented cells showed higher transcript levels of the three penicillin biosynthetic genes, pcbAB, pcbC, and penDE, than cells grown in the absence of alginate. The promoters of the pcbAB, pcbC, and penDE genes were coupled to the reporter lacZ gene and introduced as monocopy constructions in P. chrysogenum Wis 54-1225 npe10 by targeted integration in the pyrG locus; the reporter ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity expressed from the three promoters was stimulated by alginate added to the culture medium of the transformants. These results indicate that the stimulation of penicillin production by alginate was derived from an increase in the transcriptional activity of the penicillin biosynthesis genes. The induction by alginate of the transcription of the three penicillin biosynthetic genes is good example of the coordinated induction of secondary metabolism genes by elicitors of plant (or microbial) origin.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2004

Comamonas sp. strain DJ-12 is a 4-chlobiphenyl(4CB)-degrading bacterium that was reidentified from Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12. The genomic DNA was isolated from the strain DJ-12 and amplified by PCR with primers for cloning pcbABCD genes responsible for degradation of 4CB. The amino acid sequences deduced from the nucleotide sequences of pcbA1, pcbA2, pcbA3, pcbA4, pcbB, pcbC2, and pcbD2 genes showed 91, 87, 99, 87, 97, 90 and 87％ homologies with those of Pseudomonas sp. KKS102, respectively. The pcbC1D1 genes that are involved in the degradation of (4-chloro)1,2-dihydroxybiphenyl produced from 4CB by pcbAB gene products were previously reported in the recombinant plasmid pCU1 from Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12. However, the pcbC2D2 genes in the plasmid pCT4 and pCT5 cloned from Comamonas sp. DJ-12 in this study showed 51 and 62％ homologies with those of pcbC1D1 in their nucleotide sequences. The pcbC1D1 and pcbC2D2 genes were found by Southern hybridization to be located at different loci on the chromosome of DJ-12 strain. These results indicate that Comamonas sp. strain DJ-12 has two different sets of pcbCD genes responsible for deg-radation of (4-chloro)1,2-dihydroxybiphenyl.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.804-810
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• 1999

There is a possibility that carvone, a monoterpene from spearmint (Mentha spicata), could induce the bph degradative pathway and genes in Alcaligenes eutrophus H850, which is a known Gram-negative PCB degrader with a broad substrate specificity that was thoroughly investigated with Arthrobacter sp. BIB, a Gram-positive PCB degrader. The strains BIB and H850 were unable to utilize and grow on the plant terpene [(R)-(-)-carvone] (50ppm) to be recognized as a sole carbon source. Nevertheless, the carvone did induce 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (encoded by bphC) in the strain B lB, as observed by a resting cell assay that monitors accumulation of a yellow meta ring fission product from 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (DCBp). The monoterpene, however, did not appear to induce the meta cleavage pathway in the strain H850. Instead, an assumption was made that the strain might be using an alternative pathway, probably the ortho-cleavage pathway. A reverse transcription (RT)-PCR system, utilizing primers designed from a conserved region of the bphC gene of Arthrobacter sp. M5, was employed to verify the occurrence of the alternative pathway. A successful amplification (182bp) of mRNA transcribed from the N-terminal region of the bphC gene was accomplished in H850 cells induced by carvone (50ppm) as well as in biphenyl-growth cells. It is, therefore, likely that H850 possesses a specific PCB degradation pathway and hence a different substrate specificity compared with B1B. This study will contribute to an elucidation of the dynamic aspects of PCB bioremediation in terms of roles played by PCB degraders and plant terpenes as natural inducer substrates that are ubiquitous and environmentally compatible.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 1994

The pcb genes of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 coded for the catabolism of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and biphenyl. The products of the pcbCD genes were 2,3-dihydroxy-4'-chlorobiphenyl dioxygenase and meta-cleavage product (MCP) hydrolase, which acted on degradation of 2,3-dihydroxy-4'-chlorobiphenyl to 4-chlorobenzoate. The pcbCD genes were cloned in E. coli XLl-Blue, and then the pcbD gene was further subcloned. As a metabolite transformed from 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl by the cloned cell of E coli CU103, benzoate was detected by the resting cell assay. The enzyme activities of 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygease and MCP hydrolase produced in the cloned cells E. coli CU103 and CU105 were about 17 and 3 times higher than those of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2000

Several types of bioluminescent reporter strains have been developed for the detection and monitoring of pollutant aromatics contaminating the environment. In this study, a bioluminescent reporter strain, E. coli SHP3, was constructed by fusing the luc gene of firefly luciferase with the promoter of pcbC responsible for the meta-cleavage of aromatic hydrocarbons. the bioluminescence expressed by the luc gene in the reporter was well triggered by the promoter when it was exposed to 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyI (2,3-DHBP) at 0.5 to 1 mM concentrations. The bioluminescent response was more extensive when the reporter strain was exposed to 5 mM catechol and 2 mM 4-chlorocatechol. These different types of bioluminescent responses by E. coli SHP3 appeared to be characterized by the nature of the aromatics to stress. Since E. coli SHP3 responded to 2,3-DHBP quite sensitively, this reporter strain could be applied for detecting some catecholic pollutants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 1995

Pseudomonas sp. P20 was shown to be capable of degrading biphenyl and 4-chlorobiphenyl (4CB) to produce the corresponding benzoic acids wnich were not further degraded. But the potential of the strain for biodegradation of 4CB was shown to be excellent. The pcbA, B, C and D genes responsible for the aromatic ring-cleavage of biphenyl and 4CB degradation were cloned from the chromosomal DNA of the strain. In this study, the pebC and D genes specifying degradation of 2, 3-dihydroxybiphenyl (2, 3-DHBP) produced from biphenyl by the pebAB-encoded enzymes were cloned by using pBluescript SK(＋) as a vector. From the pCK102 (9.3 kb) containing pebC and D genes, pCK1022 inserted with a EcoRI-HindIII DNA fragment (4.1 kb) carrying pebC and D and a pCK1092 inserted with EcoRI-XbaI fragment (1.95 kb) carrying pebC were constructed. The expression of pcbC and D' in E. coli CK102 and pebC in E. coli CK1092 was examined by gas chromatography and UV-vis spectrophotometry. 2.3-dihydroxybiphenyl was readily degraded to produce meta-cleavage product (MCP) by E. coli CK102 after incubation for 10 min, and then only benzoic acid(BA) was detected in the 24-h old culture. The MCP was detected in E. coli CK1022 containing pebC and 0 genes (by the resting cells assay) for up to 3 h after incubation and then diminished completely in 8 h, whereas the MCP accumulated in the E. coli CK1092 culture even after 6 h of incubation. The 2, 3-DHBP dioxygenases (product of pebC gene) produced by E. coli CK1, CK102, CK1023, and CK1092 strains were measured by native PAGE analysis to be about 250 kDa in molecular weight, which were about same as those of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12, P. pseudoa1caligenes KF707, and P. putida OU83.