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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Feb 1995, 468-475, Vol 61, No. 2
CS Piddington, BR Kovacevich and J Rambosek
Dibenzothiophene (DBT), a model compound for sulfur-containing organic
molecules found in fossil fuels, can be desulfurized to 2- hydroxybiphenyl
(2-HBP) by Rhodococcus sp. strain IGTS8. Complementation of a
desulfurization (dsz) mutant provided the genes from Rhodococcus sp. strain
IGTS8 responsible for desulfurization. A 6.7-kb TaqI fragment cloned in
Escherichia coli-Rhodococcus shuttle vector pRR-6 was found to both
complement this mutation and confer desulfurization to Rhodococcus
fascians, which normally is not able to desulfurize DBT. Expression of this
fragment in E. coli also conferred the ability to desulfurize DBT. A
molecular analysis of the cloned fragment revealed a single operon
containing three open reading frames involved in the conversion of DBT to
2-HBP. The three genes were designated dszA, dszB, and dszC. Neither the
nucleotide sequences nor the deduced amino acid sequences of the enzymes
exhibited significant similarity to sequences obtained from the GenBank,
EMBL, and Swiss-Prot databases, indicating that these enzymes are novel
enzymes. Subclone analyses revealed that the gene product of dszC converts
DBT directly to DBT-sulfone and that the gene products of dszA and dszB act
in concert to convert DBT-sulfone to 2-HBP.
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology
Sequence and molecular characterization of a DNA region encoding the dibenzothiophene desulfurization operon of Rhodococcus sp. strain IGTS8
Panlabs, Inc., Bothell, Washington 98011, USA.
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