Characterization of a high-affinity phenol hydroxylase from Comamonas testosteroni R5 by gene cloning, and expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1c

Comamonas testosteroni strain R5 is a phenol-degrading bacterium which expresses a phenol-oxygenating activity that is characterized by low K _s (the apparent half-saturation constant in Haldane's equation) and low K _SI (the apparent inhibition constant) values. We have now cloned the gene cluster encoding a phenol hydroxylase (phcKLMNOP) and its cognate regulator (phcR) from strain R5. Transformation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1c (Phenol⁻ Catechol⁺) with pROR502, a derivative of pRO1614 containing the cloned genes, confers the ability to grow on phenol as the sole carbon source. The K _s and K _SI values for the phenol-oxygenating activity of PAO1c(pROR502) are almost identical to those of strain R5, suggesting that the phcKLMNOP genes encode the major phenol hydroxylase in strain R5. A phylogenetic analysis shows the phenol hydroxylase from strain R5 to be more closely related to toluene/benzene-2-monooxygenase (Tb2m) from Pseudomonas sp. JS150 than to the phenol hydroxylases from P. putida CF600 and BH, or to the phenol hydroxylase from Ralstonia eutropha E2. Analysis of the substrate specificity of PAO1c(pROR502) and PAO1c derivatives expressing phenol hydroxylase from P. putida BH or from R. eutropha E2 indicates that these phenol hydroxylases catalyze the oxidation not only of phenol and cresols but also of toluene and benzene. Received: 29 March 1999 / Accepted: 18 July 1999