Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2002, p. 957-962, Vol. 68, No. 2
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.2.957-962.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Coexistence of Two Distinct Copies of Naphthalene Degradation Genes in Pseudomonas Strains Isolated from the Western Mediterranean Region
Marcela Ferrero,,
Enrique Llobet-Brossa, Jorge Lalucat,,
Elena García-Valdés, Ramón Rosselló-Mora, and Rafael Bosch*
Departament de Biologia, Microbiologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, and Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (CSIC-UIB), 07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Received 28 June 2001/
Accepted 16 November 2001

ABSTRACT
We analyzed the occurrence of the naphthalene degradation upper-pathway
(
nah) genes in the western Mediterranean region. The amplification,
restriction, and sequence analysis of internal fragments for
several
nah genes (
nahAc,
nahB,
nahC, and
nahE) from naphthalene-degrading
strains isolated from this geographical area proved the coexistence
of two distinct sets of
nah genes.

INTRODUCTION
Naphthalene degradation has been extensively studied in several
Pseudomonas strains, such as the archetypes
Pseudomonas putida G7 (
11,
23,
25,
29) and
P. putida NCIB9816 (
5,
19). In both
strains, the dissimilatory genes are organized into two operons:
one coding for the enzymes involved in the conversion of naphthalene
to salicylate (
nahAaAbAcAdBFCED, naphthalene degradation upper
pathway) and the second coding for the conversion of salicylate
to tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates (pyruvate and acetyl
coenzyme A) through the meta-cleavage pathway (
nahGTHINLOMKJ,
naphthalene degradation lower pathway). Regulation of both operons
is mediated by a single protein, NahR, that acts as a positive
regulator for both promoters, with salicylate being the inducer
of the system (
23).
Nucleotide sequences coding for the entire naphthalene degradation upper pathway have been determined in several Pseudomonas species such as Pseudomonas sp. strain C18 (6), P. putida OUS82 (27), Ralstonia sp. strain U2 (7), P. stutzeri AN10 (4), P. putida BS202 (GenBank accession no. AF010471), and P. aeruginosa PaK1 (GenBank accession no. D84146). Interestingly, comparison of this last sequence with the sequences for P. stutzeri AN10 and for Pseudomonas sp. strain C18 revealed that the upper pathway of strain PaK1 could be the result of a recombination event between the upper pathways found in the other two strains (4). In this manner, it has been suggested that a P. aeruginosa PaK1 ancestor recruited two entire naphthalene degradation upper pathways and a mosaic upper pathway was selected for, probably due to environmental pressure, in the ancestral strain of PaK1 (4). Other mosaic patterns within individual degradative genes or within catabolic operons as a result of recombination between homologous sequences have been previously reported (1, 2, 10), and the same is true for the coexistence of nearly identical metabolic modules (i.e., pWW53 and related plasmids) (24, 28).
Our objectives in the present study were (i) to analyze the presence of two distinct sets of nah upper-pathway genes in the western Mediterranean region and (ii) to prove that these two distinct types of genes could physically coexist in the same host strain.

Amplification of nahAc homologues from naphthalene-degrading Pseudomonas strains
Naphthalene dioxygenase (NahA) catalyzes the first step in the
degradation of naphthalene, the
cis-dihydroxylation reaction
(
12), being a three-component class III oxygenase (ferredoxin
[NahAb], ferredoxin reductase [NahAa], and terminal dioxygenase
[NahAcAd, also NDO]) in which terminal dioxygenase is an
3ß
3 hexamer (
13). Lloyd-Jones and coworkers (
14,
15) affiliated
the NDO large subunit (

, NahAc-like) gene sequences with three
major branches: the
nah-like group, the
dnt/
ntd group, and the
phn-type group.
Sequences for NDO large subunit genes from Rhodococcus sp. strain NCIMB12038 (narAa [GenBank accession no. AF082663]), Burkholderia sp. strain RP007 (phnAc [AF061751]), Alcaligenes faecalis AFK2 (phnAc [AB024945]), Ralstonia sp. strain U2 (nagAc [AF036940]), Comamonas testosteroni H (pahAc [AF252550]), Burkholderia sp. strain DNT (dntAc [U62430]), Pseudomonas sp. strain JS42 (ntdAc [U49504]), Pseudomonas stutzeri AN10 (nahAc [AF039533]), P. aeruginosa PAK1 (pahA3 [D84146]), P. putida G7 (nahAc [M83949]), P. fluorescens ATCC 17483 (ndoC2 [AF004283]), P. putida OUS82 (pahAc [AB004059]), P. putida ATCC 17484 (ndoC2 [AF004284]), P. putida NCIB9816 (ndoB [M23914]), P. putida NCIB9816-4 (nahAc [M83950]), P. putida BS202 (nahA3 [AF010471]), and Pseudomonas sp. strain C18 (doxB [M60405]) were aligned and forward (Ac149f, 5"-CCCYGGCGACTATGT-3") and reverse (Ac1014r, 5"-CTCRGGCATGTCTTTTTC-3") degenerated primers were chosen in conserved regions among the genes belonging to the nah-like and dnt/ntd groups. In this regard, it was not possible to target the less related phn-type dioxygenases.
Primers were used on 66 naphthalene-degrading Pseudomonas strains isolated from the western Mediterranean region. These strains had been isolated in our laboratory over the last 20 years and were able to grow with naphthalene as the unique energy and carbon source (Table 1). A single PCR fragment of the predicted size (866 bp) was amplified in all of them (Fig. 1, lane 1). In order to evaluate the genetic diversity of the naphthalene dioxygenase genes, PCR fragments were digested with the restriction enzyme HaeIII. These strains clustered in three groups. The first group consisted of a nah-like AN10 group, with a restriction pattern similar to nahAc from P. stutzeri AN10 (4) and pahA3 from P. aeruginosa PaK1 (Fig. 1, line 3) (35 strains, 53% of the total). The second group was the nah-like C18 group, with a pattern similar to doxB from Pseudomonas sp. strain C18 (6) and nahAc from P. putida G7 (25) (Fig. 1, line 2) (25 strains, 38% of the total). The third group was composed of six strains (9% of the total) with identical restriction patterns (Fig. 1, lane 4), suggesting by the sum of the resulting fragments the coexistence of both AN10 and C18 naphthalene dioxygenase genes in each of these strains.

Grouping and selection of representative strains
In order to select a reduced number of strains to be further
studied, strains were grouped according to several key physiological
characteristics that are discriminative among true pseudomonads
(
18). The results were compared with the
nahAc restriction pattern
type, and a tentative strain grouping was achieved (Table
1).
One or two representatives in each group were selected, and
their 16S rRNA was sequenced (indicated in boldface in Table
1). Almost complete sequences of strains 5
IIIASal, 3
IIIA
2NH,
3
IA
2NH, PR1MN1, and 2
ID
1NH were aligned and their phylogeny
reconstructed by using the current database of ca. 20.000 aligned
sequences (
17). Once a consensus tree was drawn (Fig.
2), aligned
partial sequences of strains LSMN3, LSMN7, 8
ID
INH, S1MN3, LS402,
and SP401 were added to this tree by using the parsimony tool
of the ARB program (
26) to determine their affiliation. As shown
in Fig.
2, new sequences were affiliated with four different
branches within the true members of the genus
Pseudomonas. The
phylogenetic affiliation did not match with the groups made
after physiological similarities, showing a relatively poor
value of the key characteristics chosen. Most of them (7 of
11) were affiliated with the
P. putida-P. monteilii branch;
thus, we could not assign them to any of the known species because
of the extremely close relationships among the sequences of
the members of this branch. One sequence, that of LSMN3, could
be affiliated with
P. alcaligenes. One sequence, that of S1MN3,
could be affiliated with genomovar 8 of
P. stutzeri, and two
sequences, those of SP401 and LS402, could be affiliated with
P. balearica.

nahAc gene fragment analysis
The internal
nahAc gene fragments from all selected strains
(Table
1) were cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequences
were aligned, and their phylogenies were reconstructed by using
the neighbor-joining algorithm (Fig.
3). All
nahAc-like sequences
were affiliated with both AN10 and C18 branches. This confirmed
the previously observed clustering observed by amplification
and restriction analysis.
Upon comparing reconstructed phylogenies of the 16S rRNA gene
and
nahAc (Fig.
2 and
3, respectively) we found that (i) marine
bacteria with different affiliations (i.e.,
P. stutzeri ST27MN2,
P. alcaligenes LSMN3,
Pseudomonas sp. strain LSMN7, and
P. balearica LS401) but isolated from the same geographical location and
at the same time (i.e., Barcelona, Spain, in 1988) harbored
nearly identical
nahAc genes (AN10 type) and (ii) marine bacteria
with a common origin (Barcelona, Spain, in 1987) such as those
affiliated with the
P. putida-P. monteilii branch may harbor
one of the two
nahAc type genes (strain 3
IIIA2NH, AN10 type,
and strain 8
ID
INH, C18 type). Additionally, all strains with
the complex
nahAc restriction pattern (Fig.
1, lane 4) were
confirmed to harbor both types of genes. Thus, it can be concluded
that in the western Mediterranean region at least two distinct
naphthalene dioxygenase genes can be found and may coexist within
the same host strain. This might also be true for the rest of
the naphthalene degradation upper-pathway genes.

Coexistence of other nah upper-pathway genes
In order to study the coexistence of two copies of other
nah upper-pathway genes, sequences for the
nahB-,
nahC-, and
nahE-like
genes from
Pseudomonas sp. strain C18 (
doxE,
doxG, and
doxI [GenBank accession number
M60405]),
P. stutzeri AN10 (
nahB,
nahC, and
nahE [
AF039533]),
P. putida OUS82 (
pahB,
pahC, and
pahE [
AB004059]),
P. putida G7 (
nahB,
nahC, and
nahE [
AF125184,
J04994, and
U09057, respectively]),
P. aeruginosa PaK1 (
pahB,
pahC, and
pahE [
D84146]), and
P. putida BS202 (
nahB,
nahC, and
nahE [
AF010471]) were aligned, and amplification primers were
designed for the conserved regions. The primers and expected
PCR products were as follows: B6f (5"-CAATCAACAAGTCGTTTC-3")
and B778r (5"-ACTTGCGACCGAGCG-3") were used to amplify an internal
nahB-like fragment of 773 bp, C118f (5"-GAGAAGGACCGTTTCTATC-3")
and C814r (5"-CACCTCGCCAGCCGGG-3") were used to amplify an internal
nahC-like fragment of 697 bp, and E207f (5"-CGCYACGTTGACCTGGG-3")
and E826r (5"-CCGAAAAGTCGCCACGC-3") were used to amplify an
internal
nahE-like fragment of 620 bp. Degeneracy in primer
E207f was needed to accommodate all
nahE-like genes. The primers
were used on all strains harboring two distinct
nahAc-like genes.
A single PCR product, equal in size to the predicted amplicons,
was amplified in all of them. The PCR products were restricted
with
TaqI,
AluI, or
HaeIII endonucleases and, in all cases,
their restriction pattern suggested the presence of two distinct
copies of each
nahB,
nahC, and
nahE gene (results not shown).
Pseudomonas sp. strain 5
IIIASal was selected to further clone
and sequence the internal
nahB-,
nahC-, and
nahE-like fragments.
Sequence alignments confirmed the presence of two plausible
functional copies for all genes. One of the alleles for each
gene (
nahB1,
nahC1, and
nahE1) was closer in sequence to its
nah homologous gene present in
P. stutzeri AN10 (
4), while the
other alleles (
nahB2,
nahC2, and
nahE2) showed greater identity
to their relative in the
dox pathway of
Pseudomonas sp. strain
C18 (
6) (
nahB1 of
Pseudomonas sp. strain 5
IIIASal [AF320638],
99.2% identity to
nahB, 86.9% identity to
doxE;
nahB2 [AF320639],
89.9% identity to
nahB, 96.9% identity to
doxE;
nahC1 [AF320640],
98.5% identity to
nahC, 85.5% identity to
doxG;
nahC2 [AF320641],
85.7% identity to
nahC, 99.7% identity to
doxG;
nahE1 [AF320642],
95.9% identity to
nahE, 94.8% identity to
doxI;
nahE2 [AF320643],
90.4% identity to
nahE, 100.0% identity to
doxI). Thus, strains
harboring two distinct
nahAc-like genes may also have two copies
of all naphthalene-degradation upper pathway genes: one homologous
to the
nah genes from
P. stutzeri AN10 and another homologous
to the ones present in
Pseudomonas sp. strain C18.
In summary, our results reveal that closely related naphthalene-degrading bacteria (Pseudomonas spp.) isolated from the western Mediterranean region may independently harbor two distinct nahAc-type genes: the AN10 and the C18 types (Fig. 3). Furthermore, we have shown that, in some cases, both naphthalene dioxygenase-encoding genes and other nah upper pathway genes coexist in the same host strain. Since assimilation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene and its derivatives is due to the combined action of several enzymes and not only to the action of a unique enzyme, the initial dioxygenase, plausible recombination events between homologous but distinct gene copies could result in new hybrid alleles of these genes. The corresponding gene products might show small differences in their amino acid sequence that could improve the degradation of naphthalene (and its derivatives), thereby conferring a selective advantage on these strains. In this sense, strains harboring these two nearly identical but distinct copies of the nah upper-pathway genes, such as Pseudomonas sp. strain 5IIIASal and Pseudomonas sp. strain 2IDINH, can be excellent models for studying the role of natural recombination between homologous catabolic pathways in accelerating their evolution and improving their biochemical capabilities. Thus, experiments to improve naphthalene degradation capabilities and analysis of their resulting nah upper-pathway gene combinations are called for.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by grants BIO97-0639 and COO1999-AX108
(Spanish CICYT). R. Bosch, J. Lalucat, and R. Rosselló-Mora
were also supported by the program Acciones Integradas HA1999-0013
(CICYT-DAAD). A postdoctoral fellowship from CONICET (Argentina)
to M. Ferrero is gratefully acknowledged.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departament de Biologia, Microbiologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Carretera Valldemossa, km 7.5, E-07071, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Phone: 34-971-173141. Fax: 34-971-173184. E-mail:
rbosch{at}uib.es.

Present address: PROIMI-Biotecnología, CP 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. 
Present address: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, D-28359 Bremen, Germany. 

REFERENCES
1
- Aemprapa, S., and P. A. Williams. 1998. Implications of the xylQ gene of TOL plasmid pWW102 for the evolution of aromatic catabolic pathways. Microbiology 144:1387-1396.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2
- Benjamin, R. C., J. A. Voss, and D. A. Kunz. 1991. Nucleotide sequence of xylE from the TOL pDK1 plasmid and structural comparison with isofunctional catechol-2,3-dioxygenase genes from TOL pWW0 and NAH7. J. Bacteriol. 173:2724-2728.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3
- Bennasar, A., R. Rosselló-Mora, J. Lalucat, and E. R. B. Moore. 1996. 16S rRNA sequence analysis relative to genomovars of Pseudomonas stutzeri and proposal of Pseudomonas balearica sp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 46:200-205.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
4
- Bosch, R., E. García-Valdés, and E. R. B. Moore. 1999. Genetic characterization and evolutionary implications of a chromosomally encoded naphthalene-degradation upper-pathway from Pseudomonas stutzeri AN10. Gene 236:149-157.[CrossRef][Medline]
5
- Cane, P. A., and P. A. Williams. 1986. A restriction map of naphthalene catabolic plasmid pWW60-1 and the location of some of its catabolic genes. J. Gen. Microbiol. 132:2919-2929.
6
- Denome, S. A., D. C. Stanley, E. S. Olson, and K. D. Young. 1993. Metabolism of dibenzothiophene and naphthalene in Pseudomonas strains: complete DNA sequence of an upper naphthalene catabolic pathway. J. Bacteriol. 175:6890-6901.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
7
- Fuenmayor, S. L., M. Wild, A. L. Boyes, and P. A. Williams. 1998. A gene cluster encoding steps in conversion of naphthalene to gentisate in Pseudomonas sp. strain U2. J. Bacteriol. 180:2522-2530.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
8
- García-Valdés, E. 1987. Ph.D. thesis. Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
9
- García-Valdés, E., E. Cózar, R. Rotger, J. Lalucat, and J. Ursing. 1988. New naphthalene-degrading marine Pseudomonas strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54:2478-2485.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
10
- Harayama, S., and M. Rekik. 1993. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the meta-cleavage pathway genes of TOL plasmid pWW0 from Pseudomonas putida with other meta-cleavage genes suggests that both single and multiple nucleotide substitutions contribute to enzyme evolution. Mol. Gen. Genet. 239:81-89.[CrossRef][Medline]
11
- Harayama, S., M. Rekik, A. Wasserfallen, and A. Bairoch. 1987. Evolutionary relationships between catabolic pathways for aromatics: conservation of gene order and nucleotide sequences of catechol oxidation genes of pWW0 and NAH7 plasmids. Mol. Gen. Genet. 210:241-247.[CrossRef][Medline]
12
- Jeffrey, A. M., A. J. C. Yeh, D. M. Jerina, T. R. Patel, J. F. Davey, and D. T. Gibson. 1984. Initial reactions in the oxidation of naphthalene by Pseudomonas putida. Biochemistry 14:575-583.
13
- Kauppi, B., K. Lee, E. Carredano, R. E. Parales, D. T. Gibson, H. Eklund, and S. Ramaswamy. 1998. Structure of an aromatic ring-hydroxylating dioxygenase-naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase. Structure 6:571-586.[Medline]
14
- Laurie, A. D., and G. Lloyd-Jones. 1999. The phn genes of Burkholderia sp. strain RP007 constitute a divergent gene cluster for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon catabolism. J. Bacteriol. 181:531-540.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
15
- Lloyd-Jones, G., A. D. Laurie, D. W. F. Hunter, and R. Fraser. 1999. Analysis of catabolic genes for naphthalene and phenanthrene degradation in contaminated New Zealand soils. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 29:69-79.
16
- Ludwig, W., O. Strunk, S. Klugbauer, N. Klugbauer, M. Weizenegger, J. Neumaier, M. Bachleitner, and K.-H. Schleifer. 1998. Bacterial phylogeny based on comparative sequence analysis. Electrophoresis 19:554-568.[CrossRef][Medline]
17
- Maidak, B. L., J. R. Cole, T. G. Lilburn, C. T. Parker, Jr., P. R. Saxman, J. M. Stredwick, G. M. Garrity, B. Li, G. J. Olsen, S. Pramanik, T. M. Schmidt, and J. M. Tiedje. 2000. The RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) continues. Nucleic Acids Res. 28:173-174.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
18
- Palleroni, N. J. 1984. Genus I Pseudomonas, p. 141-199. In N. R. Krieg and J. G. Holt (ed.), Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology, vol. 1. The Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, Md.
19
- Platt, A., V. Shingler, S. C. Taylor, and P. A. Williams. 1995. The 4-hydroxy-2-oxovalerate aldolase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (acylating) encoded by the nahM and nahO genes of the naphthalene catabolic plasmid pWW60-22 provide further evidence of conservation of meta-cleavage pathway gene sequences. Microbiology 141:2223-2233.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
20
- Rosselló, R. 1992. Ph.D. thesis. Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
21
- Rossello, R., E. García-Valdés, J. Lalucat, and J. Ursing. 1991. Genotypic and phenotypic diversity of Pseudomonas stutzeri. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 14:150-157.
22
- Rosselló-Mora, R. A., J. Lalucat, and E. García-Valdés. 1994. Comparative biochemical and genetic analysis of naphthalene degradation among Pseudomonas stutzeri strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:966-972.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
23
- Schell, M. A., and P. E. Wender. 1986. Identification of the nahR gene product and nucleotide sequences required for its activation of the sal operon. J. Bacteriol. 166:9-14.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
24
- Sentchilo, V. S., A. N. Perebituk, A. J. B. Zehnder, and, J. R. van der Meer. 2000. Molecular diversity of plasmids bearing genes that encode toluene and xylene metabolism in Pseudomonas strains isolated from different contaminated sites in Belarus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:2842-2852.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
25
- Simon, M. J., T. D. Osslund, R. Saunders, B. D. Ensley, S. Suggs, A. Harcourt, W. Suen, D. L. Cruden, D. T. Gibson, and G. J. Zylstra. 1993. Sequences of genes encoding naphthalene dioxygenase in Pseudomonas putida strains G7 and NCIB9816-4. Gene 127:31-37.[CrossRef][Medline]
26
- Strunk, O., and W. Ludwig. 1998. ARB: a software environment for sequence data. Department of Microbiology, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
27
- Takizawa, N., N. Kaida, S. Torigoe, T. Moritani, T. Sawada, S. Satoh, and H. Kiyohara. 1994. Identification and characterization of genes encoding polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dioxygenase and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dihydrodiol dehydrogenase in Pseudomonas putida OUS82. J. Bacteriol. 176:2444-2449.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
28
- Williams, P. A., S. J. Assinder, P. de Marco, K. J. O'Donell, C. L. Poh, L. E. Shaw, and M. K. Winson. 1992. Catabolic gene duplications in TOL plasmids, p. 341-352. In E. Galli, S. Silver, and B. Witholt (ed.), Pseudomonas: molecular biology and biotechnology. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.
29
- Yen, K.-M., and I. C. Gunsalus. 1982. Plasmid gene organization: naphthalene/salicylate oxidation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79:874-878.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2002, p. 957-962, Vol. 68, No. 2
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.2.957-962.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Kim, J.-S., Crowley, D. E.
(2007). Microbial Diversity in Natural Asphalts of the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
73: 4579-4591
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Ni Chadhain, S. M., Norman, R. S., Pesce, K. V., Kukor, J. J., Zylstra, G. J.
(2006). Microbial Dioxygenase Gene Population Shifts during Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
72: 4078-4087
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Van Hamme, J. D., Singh, A., Ward, O. P.
(2003). Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
67: 503-549
[Abstract]
[Full Text]