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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2006, p. 1437-1444, Vol. 72, No. 2
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.2.1437-1444.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Degradation of 2,3-Diethyl-5-Methylpyrazine by a Newly Discovered Bacterium, Mycobacterium sp. Strain DM-11

Institute of Technical Biocatalysis, Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, Denickestrasse 15, 21071 Hamburg, Germany,¹ Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin Luther King Platz 6, 20146 Hamburg, Germany²

Received 31 August 2005/ Accepted 22 November 2005

A bacterium was isolated from the waste gas treatment plant at a fishmeal processing company on the basis of its capacity to use 2,3-diethyl-5-methylpyrazine (DM) as a sole carbon and energy source. The strain, designated strain DM-11, grew optimally at 25°C and had a doubling time of 29.2 h. The strain did not grow on complex media like tryptic soy broth, Luria-Bertani broth, or nutrient broth or on simple carbon sources like glucose, acetate, oxoglutarate, succinate, or citrate. Only on Löwenstein-Jensen medium was growth observed. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain DM-11 showed the highest similarity (96.2%) to Mycobacterium poriferae strain ATCC 35087^T. Therefore, strain DM-11 merits recognition as a novel species within the genus Mycobacterium. DM also served as a sole nitrogen source for the growth of strain DM-11. The degradation of DM by strain DM-11 requires molecular oxygen. The first intermediate was identified as 5,6-diethyl-2-hydroxy-3-methylpyrazine (DHM). Its disappearance was accompanied by the release of ammonium into the culture medium. No other metabolite was detected. We conclude that ring fission occurred directly after the formation of DHM and ammonium was eliminated after ring cleavage. Molecular oxygen was essential for the degradation of DHM. The expression of enzymes involved in the degradation of DM and DHM was regulated. Only cells induced by DM or DHM converted these compounds. Strain DM-11 also grew on 2-ethyl-5(6)-methylpyrazine (EMP) and 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (TMP) as a sole carbon, nitrogen, and energy source. In addition, the strain converted many pyrazines found in the waste gases of food industries cometabolically.

We dedicate this work to F. Lingens on the occasion of his 80th birthday.