Background Carbazole is a recalcitrant compound with a dioxin-like structure and possesses mutagenic and toxic activities. Bacteria respond to a xenobiotic by recruiting exogenous genes to establish a pathway to degrade the xenobiotic, which is necessary for their adaptation and survival. Usually, this process is mediated by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, transposons, and insertion sequences.  Findings The genes encoding the enzymes responsible for the degradation of carbazole to catechol via anthranilate were cloned, sequenced, and characterized from a carbazole-degrading Sphingomonas sp. strain XLDN2-5. The car gene cluster (carRAaBaBbCAc) and fdr gene were accompanied on both sides by two copies of IS6100 elements, and organized as IS6100::ISSsp1-ORF1-carRAaBaBbCAc-ORF8-IS6100-fdr-IS6100. Carbazole was converted by carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase (CARDO, CarAaAcFdr), meta-cleavage enzyme (CarBaBb), and hydrolase (CarC) to anthranilate and 2-hydroxypenta-2,4-dienoate. The fdr gene encoded a novel ferredoxin reductase whose absence resulted in lower transformation activity of carbazole by CarAa and CarAc. The ant gene cluster (antRAcAdAbAa) which was involved in the conversion of anthranilate to catechol was also sandwiched between two IS6100 elements as IS6100-antRAcAdAbAa-IS6100. Anthranilate 1,2-dioxygenase (ANTDO) was composed of a reductase (AntAa), a ferredoxin (AntAb), and a two-subunit terminal oxygenase (AntAcAd). Reverse transcription-PCR results suggested that carAaBaBbCAc gene cluster, fdr, and antRAcAdAbAa gene cluster were induced when strain XLDN2-5 was exposed to carbazole. Expression of both CARDO and ANTDO in Escherichia coli required the presence of the natural reductases for full enzymatic activity.  Conclusions/Significance We predict that IS6100 might play an important role in the establishment of carbazole-degrading pathway, which endows the host to adapt to novel compounds in the environment. The organization of the car and ant genes in strain XLDN2-5 was unique, which showed strong evolutionary trail of gene recruitment mediated by IS6100 and presented a remarkable example of rearrangements and pathway establishments.
                                    背景
咔唑是一种具有类似二恶英结构的难降解化合物,具有诱变和毒性活性。细菌对异
生物的反应是通过招募外源
基因来建立降解异
生物的途径,这是细菌适应和生存所必需的。通常,这一过程是由质粒、转座子和插入序列等移动遗传因子介导的。  研究结果 克隆了负责将
咔唑通过
蒽酸酯降解为
邻苯二酚的酶的
基因,并对其进行了测序和表征。car
基因簇(carRAaBaBbCAc)和 fdr 
基因两侧伴有两个 IS6100 元件拷贝,组成 IS6100::ISSsp1-ORF1-carRAaBaBbCAc-ORF8-IS6100-fdr-IS6100。
咔唑在
咔唑 1,9a-二加氧酶(CARDO,CaRAaAcFdr)、元裂解酶(CarBaBb)和
水解酶(CarC)的作用下转化为
蒽酸和 2-羟基戊-2,4-二烯酸酯。fdr 
基因编码一种新型
铁氧还原酶,缺乏这种酶会导致 CaRAa 和 CaRAc 转化
咔唑的活性降低。蚂蚁
基因簇(aNTRAcAdAbAa)也夹在两个 IS6100 元素之间,即 IS6100-aNTRAcAdAbAa-IS6100,该
基因参与将
蒽酸转化为
邻苯二酚。
蒽酸 1,2-二加氧酶(ANTDO)由还原酶(ANTAa)、
铁氧还蛋白(ANTAb)和双亚基末端加氧酶(ANTAcAd)组成。反转录-PCR结果表明,当菌株XLDN2-5暴露于
咔唑时,caRAaBaBbCAc
基因簇、fdr和aNTRAcAdAbAa
基因簇被诱导。CARDO 和 ANTDO 在大肠杆菌中的表达需要天然还原酶的存在才能充分发挥酶的活性。  结论/意义 我们预测,IS6100 可能在
咔唑降解途径的建立过程中发挥了重要作用,它赋予了宿主适应环境中新型化合物的能力。菌株 XLDN2-5 中车
基因和蚁
基因的组织结构非常独特,显示出 IS6100 介导的
基因招募的强烈进化痕迹,是
基因重排和途径建立的一个显著实例。