Although the protocatechuate branch of the β-ketoadipate pathway in Gram- bacte- ria has been well studied, this branch is less understood in Gram+ bacteria. In this study, Cory- nebacterium glutamicum was cultivated with protocatechuate, p-cresol, vanillate and 4-hydroxybenzoate as sole carbon and energy sources for growth. Enzymatic assays indicated that growing cells on these aromatic compounds exhibited protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase activities. Data-mining of the genome of this bacterium revealed that the genetic locus ncg12314-ncg12315 encoded a putative protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase. The genes, ncg12314 and ncg12315, were amplified by PCR technique and were cloned into plasmid (pET21aP34D). Recombinant Escherichia coli strain harboring this plasmid actively expressed protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase activity. Further, when this locus was disrupted in C. glu- tamicum, the ability to degrade and assimilate protocatechuate, p-cresol, vanillate or 4-hydroxybenzoate was lost and protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase activity was disappeared. The ability to grow with these aromatic compounds and protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase activity of C. glutamicum mutant could be restored by gene complementation. Thus, it is clear that the key enzyme for ring-cleavage, protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, was encoded by ncg12314 and ncg12315. The additional genes involved in the protocatechuate branch of the β-ketoadipate pathway were identified by mining the genome data publically available in the GenBank. The functional identification of genes and their unique organization in C. glutamicum provided new insight into the genetic diversity of aromatic compound degradation.
Many nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds （NACs）, such as nitrobenzene （NB）, 4-nitrophenol （4-NP）, aniline （AN）, and 2,4-dinitrophenol （2,4-DNP）, are environmentally hazardous, and their removal from contaminated water is one of the main challenges facing wastewater treatment plants. In this study, synthetic wastewater containing NB, 4-NP, 2,4-DNP, and AN at concentrations ranging from 50 to 180 mg/L was fed into a sequencing batch reactor （SBR）. Analyses of the SBR system indicated that it simultaneously removed more than 99% of the NACs at loading rates of 0.36 kg NB/（m^3·d）, 0.3 kg 4-NP/（m^3·d）, 0.25 kg AN/（m^3·d）, and 0.1 kg 2,4-DNP/（m^3·d）. Bacterial groups of Bacteriodetes, Candidate division TM7, α-Proteobacteria, and β-Proteobacteria were dominant in the clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes retrieved from the microbial communities in the SBR system. ＂Cycle tests＂ designed to alter feeding and aeration parameters of the SBR system demonstrated that the resident microbial biome of the SBR system responded rapidly to changing conditions. Consumption of O2 was concomitant with the apparent mineralization of NACs. Aromatic ring-cleaving dioxygenase activities suggested that （1） AN and NB were degraded via catechol 2,3-dioxygenase; （2） 4-NP was degraded via 1,2,4-benzentriol 1,2-dioxygenase; and （3） 2,4-DNP was degraded via an unresolved pathway.
LIU Xing-yuWANG Bao-junJIANG Cheng-yingZHAO Ke-xinHarold L. DrakeLIU Shuang-Jiang
