No abstract

Southern hybridization analysis of the genomes from the newly-isolated 10 carbazole (CAR)-utilizing bacteria revealed that 8 of the isolates carried gene clusters homologous to the CAR-catabolic car operon of Pseudomonas resinovorans strain CA10. Sequencing analysis showed that two car operons and the neighboring regions of Pseudomonas sp. strain K23 are nearly identical to that of strain CA10. In contrast to strains CA10 and K23, carEF genes did not exist downstream of the car gene cluster of Janthinobacterium sp. strain J3. In the car gene clusters, strains CA10, K23 and J3 have Rieske-type ferredoxin as a component of carbazole dioxygenase, although Sphingomonas sp. strain KA1 possesses a putidaredoxin-type ferredoxin. We confirmed that this putidaredoxin-type ferredoxin CarAc can function as an electron mediator to CarAa of strain KA1. In the upstream regions of the carJ3 and carKA1 gene clusters, ORFs whose deduced amino acid sequences showed homology to GntR-family transcriptional regulators were identified.

Strain SY1, identified as a Corynebacterium sp., was isolated on the basis of the ability to utilize dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a sole source of sulfur. Strain SY1 could utilize a wide range of organic and inorganic sulfur compounds, such as DBT sulfone, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl sulfone, CS2, FeS2, and even elemental sulfur. Strain SY1 metabolized DBT to dibenzothiophene-5-oxide, DBT sulfone, and 2-hydroxybiphenyl, which was subsequently nitrated to produce at least two different hydroxynitrobiphenyls during cultivation. These metabolites were separated by silica gel column chromatography and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance, UV, and mass spectral techniques. Resting cells of SY1 desulfurized toluenesulfonic acid and released sulfite anion. On the basis of these results, a new DBT degradation pathway is proposed.