Tributyltin-resistant marine bacteria: a summary of recent work

Summary A tributyltin chloride (TBTCl)-resistant bacterium,Alteromonas sp. M-1, was isolated from coastal seawater. This bacterium grew in medium containing 125 M TBTCl. TBTCl added to the medium was taken up by this bacterium, however, the amount of TBTCl in the cellular fraction was low after the logarithmic phase, suggesting the existence of a TBTCl-efflux system. A genetic library was constructed using plasmid vector pUC 19. Three positive clones were obtained, by whichE. coli was transformed to TBTCl resistance. Of the three clones, the shortest fragment fromHindIII-library was analyzed. This fragment was 1.8 kb long and contained one complete open reading frame. The predicted amino acid sequence of this open reading frame had a homologous domain to transglycosylases of bacteriophage andE. coli. TBTCl-tolerant marine bacteria other thanAlteromonas sp. M-1 were obtained from natural seawater to which TBTCl was added. DNA-DNA hybridization was performed between the three cloned fragments fromAlteromonas sp. M-1 and chromosomal DNA of the TBTCl-tolerant bacteria. Some strains hybridized with the fragments and some did not, suggesting that several genes are responsible for TBTCl tolerance.