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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 1998, p. 4089-4092, Vol. 64, No. 10
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Evidence for Interspecies Gene Transfer in the Evolution of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Degraders

Catherine McGowan,dagger Roberta Fulthorpe,* Alice Wright, and J. M. Tiedje

Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48823-1101

Received 6 April 1998/Accepted 3 August 1998

Small-subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) from 20 phenotypically distinct strains of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)-degrading bacteria was partially sequenced, yielding 18 unique strains belonging to members of the alpha, beta, and gamma subgroups of the class Proteobacteria. To understand the origin of 2,4-D degradation in this diverse collection, the first gene in the 2,4-D pathway, tfdA, was sequenced. The sequences fell into three unique classes found in various members of the beta and gamma subgroups of Proteobacteria. None of the alpha -Proteobacteria yielded tfdA PCR products. A comparison of the dendrogram of the tfdA genes with that of the SSU rDNA genes demonstrated incongruency in phylogenies, and hence 2,4-D degradation must have originated from gene transfer between species. Only those strains with tfdA sequences highly similar to the tfdA sequence of strain JMP134 (tfdA class I) transferred all the 2,4-D genes and conferred the 2,4-D degradation phenotype to a Burkholderia cepacia recipient.

* Corresponding author. Present address: University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4. Phone: (416) 287-7221. Fax: (416) 287-7279. E-mail: fulthorpe{at}scar.utoronto.ca.

dagger Present address: 1798 Colorado Drive, East Lansing, MI 48823.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 1998, p. 4089-4092, Vol. 64, No. 10
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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