Methyltert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a persistent pollutant of surface and groundwater, and the reasons for its low biodegradability are poorly documented. Using one of the rare bacterial strains able to grow in the presence of MTBE,Mycobacterium austroafricanumIFP 2012, the protein profiles of crude extracts after growth in the presence of MTBE and glucose were compared by SDS-PAGE. Ten proteins with molecular masses of 67, 64, 63, 55, 50, 27, 24, 17, 14 and 11 kDa were induced after growth in the presence of MTBE. Partial amino acid sequences of N-terminal and internal peptide fragments of the 64 kDa protein were used to design degenerate oligonucleotide primers to amplify total DNA by PCR, yielding a DNA fragment that was used as a probe for cloning. A two-step cloning procedure was performed to obtain a 10 327 bp genomic DNA fragment containing seven ORFs, including a putative regulator,mpdR, and four genes,mpdC,orf1,mpdBandorf2, in the same cluster. The MpdB protein (64 kDa) was related to a flavoprotein of the glucose–methanol–choline oxidoreductase family, and the MpdC protein (55 kDa) showed a high similarity with NAD(P) aldehyde dehydrogenases. Heterologous expression of these gene products was performed inMycobacterium smegmatismc2 155. The recombinant strain was able to degrade an intermediate of MTBE biodegradation, 2-methyl 1,2-propanediol, to hydroxyisobutyric acid. This is believed to be the first report of the cloning and characterization of a cluster of genes specifically involved in the MTBE biodegradation pathway ofM. austroafricanumIFP 2012.
甲基叔丁基醚(MTBE)是地表水和地下水的持久性污染物,其生物降解性低的原因尚未得到充分的记录。利用一种罕见的能够在MTBE存在下生长的细菌菌株,即南非奥地利分支杆菌IFP 2012,通过SDS-PAGE比较MTBE和葡萄糖存在下生长后的粗提取物的蛋白质谱。在MTBE存在下生长后,诱导了10种分子量为67、64、63、55、50、27、24、17、14和11 kDa的蛋白质。利用64 kDa蛋白的N末端和内部肽段的部分氨基酸序列设计退化寡核苷酸引物扩增总DNA,得到一个DNA片段,用作探针进行克隆。进行了两步克隆程序,获得了一个10,327 bp的基因组DNA片段,其中包括一个假定的调节因子mpdR和四个基因mpdC、orf1、mpdB和orf2在同一簇中。MpdB蛋白(64 kDa)与葡萄糖-甲醇-胆碱氧化还原酶家族的黄酮蛋白有关,而MpdC蛋白(55 kDa)与NAD(P)醛脱氢酶具有高度相似性。在Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155中进行这些基因产物的异源表达。重组菌株能够将MTBE生物降解的中间体2-甲基1,2-丙二醇降解为羟基异丁酸。这被认为是首次报道了涉及M. austroafricanum IFP 2012 MTBE生物降解途径的一簇基因的克隆和表征。