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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2005, p. 4144-4148, Vol. 71, No. 7
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.71.7.4144-4148.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Elucidating the Key Member of a Linuron-Mineralizing Bacterial Community by PCR and Reverse Transcription-PCR Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis 16S rRNA Gene Fingerprinting and Cultivation
Sebastian R. Sørensen,1*
Jim Rasmussen,1,2
Carsten S. Jacobsen,1,3
Ole S. Jacobsen,1
René K. Juhler,1 and
Jens Aamand1
Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark,1
Department of Agricultural Sciences, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Højbakkegårds Allé 30, DK-2630 Tåstrup, Denmark,2
Department of Natural Sciences and Department of Ecology, KVL, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark3
Received 26 September 2004/
Accepted 10 January 2005

ABSTRACT
A bacterial community from Danish agricultural soil was enriched
with linuron [
N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-
N'-methoxy-
N'-methylurea]
as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. The community mineralized
[
ring-U-
14C]linuron completely to
14CO
2 and
14C-biomass. Denaturing
gradient gel electrophoresis analysis and cultivation revealed
that a
Variovorax sp. was responsible for the mineralization
activity.

INTRODUCTION
The phenylurea herbicide linuron [
N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-
N'-methoxy-
N'-methylurea]
is used worldwide in the conventional production of corn, cereals,
vegetables, and fruit. The rates of dissipation in agricultural
soils determined by laboratory and field experiments are highly
variable, with values ranging from days to several years (
2,
8,
9,
11,
16,
23). Linuron is frequently detected in surface
and ground waters near or below areas with intensive use, and
in one extreme case, linuron was detected in a drinking-water
well in concentrations up to 2,800 µg liter
1 (
2).
Unfortunately, linuron and some of its metabolites are suspected
of being endocrine disruptors (
12) and of having toxic effects
on various aquatic and soil organisms (
2,
22), which has stimulated
research aimed at studying linuron-mineralizing microorganisms
from agricultural soils.
Mixed bacterial cultures able to mineralize linuron have been derived from extensively treated British and Belgian agricultural soils (4, 7, 15). Similar enrichments based on related phenylurea herbicides (1, 3, 6, 19) suggest that this group can serve as carbon and nitrogen sources for bacterial metabolism in agricultural soils. Several attempts to cultivate phenylurea-metabolizing soil bacteria from degradative enrichment cultures, however, were unsuccessful (e.g., studies described in references 7, 15, and 18), and the active bacteria seem reluctant to grow on agar media. Recently, however, the first linuron-mineralizing bacterium, Variovorax sp. strain WDL1 (4), was isolated from previously treated Belgian agricultural soil. Strain WDL1 appeared to be an ineffective linuron degrader in pure culture and dependent on four other consortium members (4). The phenomenon of synergistic bacterial interactions has also been described for the herbicide isoproturon (19, 20). An extensively linuron-treated Danish agricultural field harboring a potential for rapid linuron mineralization was located among three investigated fields. The objective of this study was to obtain linuron-mineralizing enrichment cultures and pinpoint degradative microorganisms by molecular and cultivation-based techniques.

Linuron-mineralizing enrichment cultures.
Bacterial communities capable of rapid linuron mineralization
from Danish agricultural soil were enriched (
14) by inoculating
5 g (wet weight) soil into sterilized 100-ml glass flasks containing
25 ml of an autoclaved mineral salt solution (MS) (
17) with
10 mg liter
1 linuron as the sole source of carbon, nitrogen,
and energy. Linuron was added from 10,000-mg liter
1 stock
solutions in high-pressure liquid chromatography-grade acetonitrile,
and the solvent was evaporated before the addition of the MS.
Following inoculation, the flasks were equipped with a 10-ml
glass tube containing 2 ml 0.5 M NaOH to trap
14CO
2 produced
from mineralization of 120,000 dpm [
phenyl-U-
14C]linuron (16.24
mCi mmol
1; radiochemical purity, >98%; International
Isotope, München, Germany) and sealed with airtight glass
stoppers before incubation in the dark at 20°C. After a
sampling, the NaOH was mixed with 10 ml Wallac OptiPhase HiSafe
3 scintillation cocktail (Turku, Finland), and the cells were
counted in a Wallac 1409 liquid scintillation counter. The enrichments
were subcultured six times by transferring 1 ml to fresh 24
ml MS containing linuron over a period of 4 months, in which
the last three subculturings were in MS with a linuron concentration
of 100 mg liter
1. The enrichments were stored in 30%
glycerol at 80°C, and before each experiment, the
glycerol was removed by centrifugation and the cells were washed
twice in MS before inoculation.

Linuron mineralization by bacterial community Sp8-3.
One enrichment culture, designated Sp8-3, mineralized [
14C]linuron,
with approximately 60 to 70% metabolized to
14CO
2 within 10
days (Fig.
1). Linuron mineralization in concentrations of 10,
50, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000 mg liter
1 was verified.
High turbidity and extensive cell flocculation were pronounced
with the high linuron concentrations. Unless otherwise stated,
a linuron concentration of 50 mg liter
1 was used. High-pressure
liquid chromatography analysis, using the method described by
Juhler et al. (
10), revealed no linuron,
N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-
N-methylurea,
N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)urea, or unknown peaks at the end of the
experiment. Transient amounts of a metabolite with the same
retention time as 3,4-dichloroaniline were detected during linuron
mineralization. This metabolite was detected from days 1 to
8 with a maximum concentration of 2.4% of the initial linuron
amount, and it was never detected in the sterile controls.

PCR and RT-PCR DGGE fingerprinting of community Sp8-3.
The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting
enabled us to pinpoint Sp8-3 members benefiting from linuron
mineralization, facilitating easier cultivation and selection
of appropriate strains for detailed analysis. The community
structure of Sp8-3 (Fig.
2) was determined during linuron mineralization
by DNA extraction (FastDNA; Qbiogene Inc., Carlsbad, CA) and
analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes from cells from 1.0
ml culture. The metabolically active Sp8-3 members were studied
by RNA extraction (FastRNA Pro Blue kit; Qbiogene Inc.) from
cells obtained from 2.0 ml subjected to reverse transcription
(RT) by using the ThermoScrip RT-PCR system (Invitrogen, Carlsbad,
CA) after DNase treatment. Reverse-transcribed cDNA and DNA
extracted directly from Sp8-3 were amplified using
Bacteria-specific
forward primer PRBA338f with a 40-bp clamp and the reverse primer
PRUN518r (
13) targeting the V3 16S rRNA gene region. The products
were separated by DGGE as described by Muyzer et al. (
13) with
the modifications presented by Thirup et al. (
21). Bands of
interest were excised and left for two days in Milli-Q water.
A 1-µl subsample was reamplified, and the PCR products
were purified with the QIAquick PCR purification kit (QIAGEN
Ltd., VWR International A/S, Denmark) and subsequently sequenced.
Four to five different DGGE bands were detected at day 8 (Fig.
2, lanes 1 through 3) after mineralization of 10 to 30% of the
[
14C]linuron to
14CO
2. Following mineralization of 65 to 72%
of the [
14C]linuron to
14CO
2 at day 15 (Table
1), one DGGE band
from 16S rRNA genes had increased in intensity (Fig.
2, lanes
4 through 6). Parallel DGGE analysis of RT 16S rRNA extracted
at day 15 revealed a dominant band (Fig.
2, lanes 7 through
9) with a migration pattern similar to that of the dominant
16S rRNA gene-based DGGE band (Fig.
2, lanes 4 through 6). The
RNA band intensity obtained from replicate number 3 (Fig.
2,
lane 9) was lower than those of bands from replicates 1 and
2 (lanes 7 and 8). The linuron mineralization in replicate 3
had reached the maximal
14CO
2 production before mineralization
of the other two replicates, and at day 15, replicate 3 had
shown no mineralization activity for possibly up to five days
(data not shown). This is in accordance with the fact that rRNA
is labile and thereby degrades faster than DNA that may prevail
after cell death. The estimation of
14C-labeled biomass by centrifugation
(14,100
x g, 20 min, 20°C) of 2 ml Sp8-3 at day 15, followed
by MS washing, dissolution of the pellet in methanol, and scintillation
counting, suggested that 9 to 19% of the
14C from linuron had
been incorporated into bacterial biomass (Table
1). Replicate
3 had a smaller amount of
14C-biomass, which could indicate
cell death.
The DGGE-based characterization of Sp8-3 indicates that the
mineralization activity is primarily related to the metabolism
performed by one single bacterium represented by band E (Fig.
2) with similarities to
Variovorax spp. (Table
2). However,
the presence of bands C and D at day 15 may suggest the involvement
of secondary strains in linuron mineralization. No sequencing
was possible with band D due to lack of success in purifying
the PCR products. Bands A and B had homologies with various
Pseudomonas spp. from soil and were not detected at day 15 or
in the RNA-based DGGE. Band C also had homology with soil-derived
Pseudomonas spp., and in contrast to bands A and B, it also
appeared after 15 days of incubation. Additionally, a weak band
resembling band C was detected in the RNA-based DGGE analysis.
View this table:
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TABLE 2. Phylogenetic affiliation of members of the linuron-degrading bacterial community Sp8-3 based on 16S rRNA gene sequence from DGGE bands (A through E) and isolated strains (SRS16, SRS17, and SRS18)
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Isolation of Variovorax sp. strain SRS16the key member of community Sp8-3.
Dejonghe et al. (
4) described a linuron-metabolizing enrichment
subcultured for 25 months, preceded by failed attempts to isolate
the degradative members (
7), before isolation of the only currently
cultured linuron-mineralizing bacterium,
Variovorax sp. strain
WDL1. Cultivation of the key microorganisms from Sp8-3 was attempted
following approximately 4 months of enrichments. Plating of
Sp8-3 microorganisms on different agars, including R2A (Difco
Laboratories, Detroit, MI) and a linuron-based agar, based on
MS with Agar Noble (Difco) and 50 mg liter
1 linuron,
revealed different colony morphologies. No growth on the linuron
agar was observed following 30 days. The three most dominant
colony types on R2A were streaked onto fresh agar three times
to ensure purity before further studies. The isolates were designated
SRS16, SRS17, and SRS18. DNA-based DGGE band F derived from
strain SRS16 had a migration similar to that of the dominant
RNA- and DNA-based DGGE bands from Sp8-3 detected at day 15
(Fig.
2). Partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strain
SRS16 confirmed the phylogenetic relationship with different
Variovorax spp., and the highest similarity was to the linuron-degrading
Variovorax sp. strain WDL1 (Table
2). Strain SRS17 had 100%
16S rRNA gene homology to SRS16. Strain SRS18 was related to
different
Flavobacterium spp. (Table
2), and no mineralization
or degradation of linuron was detected. Strain SRS18 was not
included in the DGGE fingerprinting, and it may represent band
D, from which no sequencing was possible. Alternatively, Sp8-3
may be more complex than suggested by the DGGE fingerprinting.
Variovorax sp. strain SRS16 was screened for linuron mineralization and confirmed as a linuron-mineralizing bacterium (Fig. 3) able to use the herbicide as a carbon, nitrogen, and energy source (Fig. 4). Linuron mineralization by SRS16 was tested and verified in concentrations of 0.1, 0.2, 1.1, 10.1, 50.0, 100.0, and 1,000.0 mg liter1. The pattern of mineralization presented in Fig. 3 with 50 mg liter1 is representative for the tested concentration range. Supplementing MS with 1 g liter1 succinate as a carbon source with linuron as the sole nitrogen source increased the biomass production (Fig. 4), but extensive flocculation obstructed accurate growth measurements at the highest concentrations. Estimating 14C-biomass at day 21 following mineralization of 50 mg liter1 linuron revealed 10 to 30% of the 14C associated with washed SRS16 cells, and drop-plating showed 10.4 x 107 ± 0.9 x 107 cells ml1 in MS with succinate compared to 3.1 x 107 ± 0.9 x 107 cells ml1 in MS (Fig. 4). In contrast to results from previous studies with an isoproturon-mineralizing isolate (1), no sharp pH dependence on the mineralization activity was detectable in a pH range of 6.5 to 7.5 (data not shown). Only low concentrations of 3,4-dichloroaniline, similar to those obtained by measurements with Sp8-3, were detected during linuron metabolism by SRS16.
Enrichment culture Sp8-3 seems to be a simple community with
one primary degrader. The linuron mineralization rates in the
exponential phase were similar for strain SRS16 in pure culture
and the mixed culture Sp8-3 (Fig.
1 and
3). However, the lag
phases before the onset of the exponential mineralization phase
differed, and the mineralization of linuron therefore took approximately
5 days longer with strain SRS16 in pure culture. This might
reflect that the initial size of the SRS16 population within
Sp8-3 is smaller than the 10
5 cells ml
1 used in the pure
culture experiments, as the lag phase can be reduced by increasing
the inoculum size of SRS16. All evidence suggests that
Variovorax sp. strain SRS16 is the primary degrader, and in contrast to
the first described linuron-mineralizing bacterium,
Variovorax sp. strain WDL1 (
4), SRS16 appears to be independent of other
bacteria when performing linuron mineralization. Another difference
is the amount of 3,4-dichloroaniline occurring during linuron
degradation, whereas strain WDL1, in contrast to strain SRS16,
accumulates up to approximately 40% (of the initial linuron
concentration) (
4). The phylogenetic similarities between SRS16
and WDL1 suggest that these strains represent one
Variovorax sp. or, alternatively, a group of closely related
Variovorax spp., having a natural ability to utilize linuron as a carbon,
nitrogen, and energy source. The inherent biases associated
with enrichment procedures are known to significantly change
the diversities of degraders (
5), and it is therefore possible
that these
Variovorax spp. are well adapted for proliferation
in the enrichment procedures, enabling them to outcompete other
linuron-degrading microorganisms occurring in soils. Further
studies will aim at characterizing the active members of the
remaining enrichment cultures. Additionally, a broader screening
of different European agricultural soils having a potential
for mineralization of linuron will be initiated.

Nucleotide sequence accession numbers.
Variovorax sp. strain SRS16 was deposited at Institut Pasteur
Collection and given accession number
CIP108393. Sequences for
SRS16 and SRS18 were given GenBank database accession numbers
AY621157 and
AY621158, respectively. Other accession numbers
are provided in Table
2.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the Danish Technical Research Council,
talent grant 26-04-0051 (funding for S.R.S.), and the Danish
Agricultural and Veterinary Research Council through the SOUND
project.
We thank Mette Andersen for skillful technical assistance and Patricia Simpson for excellent help during the writing of the manuscript.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Phone: 45 3814 2317. Fax: 45 3814 2050. E-mail:
srs{at}geus.dk.


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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2005, p. 4144-4148, Vol. 71, No. 7
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.71.7.4144-4148.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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