The effect of transposons on the expression of the naphthalene biodegradation genes in Pseudomonas putida BS202(NPL-1) and derivative strains

NPL-1 and its derivative plasmid pBS106, which control the degradation of naphthalene and salicylate, were found to contain class II transposons of the Tn3 family. These transposons are involved in intraplasmid rearrangements, such as deletions and inversions, and can influence the expression of the catabolic and regulatory genes borne by biodegradation plasmids. The formation of a strong NahR-independent constitutive promoter by the inversion of a DNA fragment may be responsible for changing the character of naphthalene dioxygenase synthesis from inducible (in the case of plasmid NPL-1) to constitutive (in the case of plasmid NPL-41). The stability of plasmids NPL-1 and NPL-41 in Pseudomonas putida strains grown on different substrates depends on the expression of the nah and tnp genes.Translated from Mikrobiologiya, Vol. 74, No. 1, 2005, pp. 79–86.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Sokolov, Kosheleva, Filonov, Boronin.