γ-Hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) is a recalcitrant man-made chlorinated pesticide. Here, the complete genome sequences of four γ-HCH-degrading sphingomonad strains, which are most unlikely to have been derived from one ancestral γ-HCH degrader, were compared. Together with several experimental data, we showed that (i) all the four strains carry almost identical linA to linE genes for the conversion of γ-HCH to maleylacetate (designated “specific” lin genes), (ii) considerably different genes are used for the metabolism of maleylacetate in one of the four strains, and (iii) the linKLMN genes for the putative ABC transporter necessary for γ-HCH utilization exhibit structural divergence, which reflects the phylogenetic relationship of their hosts. Replicon organization and location of the lin genes in the four genomes are significantly different with one another, and that most of the specific lin genes are located on multiple sphingomonad-unique plasmids. Copies of IS6100, the most abundant insertion sequence in the four strains, are often located in close proximity to the specific lin genes. Analysis of the footprints of target duplication upon IS6100 transposition and the experimental detection of IS6100 transposition strongly suggested that the IS6100 transposition has caused dynamic genome rearrangements and the diversification of lin-flanking regions in the four strains.

Pseudomonas sp. strain TKP does not degrade γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), but it persistently coexists with the γ-HCH-degrading Sphingobium sp. strain TKS in a mixed culture enriched by γ-HCH. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of strain TKP, which consists of one circular chromosome with a size of 7 Mb.

Here, we report the complete genome sequence of a γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) degrader, Sphingobium sp. strain TKS, which was isolated from a γ-HCH-degrading microbial community. The genome of TKS consists of two chromosomes and nine plasmids. The lin genes for conversion of γ-HCH to β-ketoadipate are dispersed on chromosome 1 and three out of the nine plasmids.

No abstract