Effects of Dichloroethene Isomers on the Induction and Activity of Butane Monooxygenase in the Alkane-Oxidizing Bacterium “ Pseudomonas butanovora ”

Abstract

We examined cooxidation of three different dichloroethenes (1,1-DCE, 1,2- trans DCE, and 1,2- cis DCE) by butane monooxygenase (BMO) in the butane-utilizing bacterium “ Pseudomonas butanovora .” Different organic acids were tested as exogenous reductant sources for this process. In addition, we determined if DCEs could serve as surrogate inducers of BMO gene expression. Lactic acid supported greater rates of oxidation of the three DCEs than the other organic acids tested. The impacts of lactic acid-supported DCE oxidation on BMO activity differed among the isomers. In intact cells, 50% of BMO activity was irreversibly lost after consumption of ∼20 nmol mg protein ⁻¹ of 1,1-DCE and 1,2- trans DCE in 0.5 and 5 min, respectively. In contrast, a comparable loss of activity required the oxidation of 120 nmol 1,2- cis DCE mg protein ⁻¹ . Oxidation of similar amounts of each DCE isomer (∼20 nmol mg protein ⁻¹ ) produced different negative effects on lactic acid-dependent respiration. Despite 1,1-DCE being consumed 10 times faster than 1,2,- trans DCE, respiration declined at similar rates, suggesting that the product(s) of oxidation of 1,2- trans DCE was more toxic to respiration than 1,1-DCE. Lactate-grown “ P. butanovora ” did not express BMO activity but gained activity after exposure to butane, ethene, 1,2- cis DCE, or 1,2- trans DCE. The products of BMO activity, ethene oxide and 1-butanol, induced lac Z in a reporter strain containing lac Z fused to the BMO promoter, whereas butane, ethene, and 1,2- cis DCE did not. 1,2- trans DCE was unique among the BMO substrates tested in its ability to induce lac Z expression.