Browsing by Author "Perez-Pantoja, Danilo"

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    Aromatic compounds degradation plays a role in colonization of Arabidopsis thaliana and Acacia caven by Cupriavidus pinatubonensis JMP134
    (2012) Ledger, Thomas; Zuniga, Ana; Kraiser, Tatiana; Dasencich, Paola; Donoso, Raul; Perez-Pantoja, Danilo; Gonzalez, Bernardo
    Plant rhizosphere and internal tissues may constitute a relevant habitat for soil bacteria displaying high catabolic versatility towards xenobiotic aromatic compounds. Root exudates contain various molecules that are structurally related to aromatic xenobiotics and have been shown to stimulate bacterial degradation of aromatic pollutants in the rhizosphere. The ability to degrade specific aromatic components of root exudates could thus provide versatile catabolic bacteria with an advantage for rhizosphere colonization and growth. In this work, Cupriavidus pinatubonensis JMP134, a well-known aromatic compound degrader (including the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate, 2,4-D), was shown to stably colonize Arabidopsis thaliana and Acacia caven plants both at the rhizoplane and endorhizosphere levels and to use root exudates as a sole carbon and energy source. No deleterious effects were detected on these colonized plants. When a toxic concentration of 2,4-D was applied to colonized A. caven, a marked resistance was induced in the plant, showing that strain JMP134 was both metabolically active and potentially beneficial to its host. The role for the beta-ketoadipate aromatic degradation pathway during plant root colonization by C. pinatubonensis JMP134 was investigated by gene inactivation. A C. pinatubonensis mutant derivative strain displayed a reduced ability to catabolise root exudates isolated from either plant host. In this mutant strain, a lower competence in the rhizosphere of A. caven was also shown, both in gnotobiotic in vitro cultures and in plant/soil microcosms.
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    Genuine genetic redundancy in maleylacetate-reductase-encoding genes involved in degradation of haloaromatic compounds by Cupriavidus necator JMP134
    (2009) Perez-Pantoja, Danilo; Donoso, Raul A.; Sanchez, Miguel A.; Gonzalez, Bernardo
    Maleylacetate reductases; (MAR) are required for biodegradation of several substituted aromatic compounds. To date, the functionality of two MAR-encoding genes (tfdF(I) and tfdF(II)) has been reported in Cupriavidus necator JMP134(pJP4), a known degrader of aromatic compounds. These two genes are located in tfd gene clusters involved in the turnover of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (2,4-D) and 3-chlorobenzoate (3-CB). The C. necator JMP134 genome comprises at least three other genes that putatively encode MAR (tcpD, hqoD and hxqD), but confirmation of their functionality and their role in the catabolism of haloaromatic compounds has not been assessed. RT-PCR expression analyses of C. necator JMP134 cells exposed to 2,4-D, 3-CB, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) or 4-fluorobenzoate (4-FB) showed that tfdF(I) and tfdF(II) are induced by haloaromatics channelled to halocatechols as intermediates. In contrast, 2,4,6-TCP only induces tcpD, and any haloaromatic compounds tested did not induce hxqD and hqoD. However, the tcpD, hxqD and hqoD gene products showed MAR activity in cell extracts and provided the MAR function for 2,4-D catabolism when heterologously expressed in MAR-lacking strains. Growth tests for mutants of the five MAR-encoding genes in strain JMP134 showed that none of these genes is essential for degradation of the tested compounds. However, the role of tfdF(I)/tfdF(II) and tcpD genes in the expression of MAR activity during catabolism of 2,4-D and 2,4,6-TCP, respectively, was confirmed by enzyme activity tests in mutants. These results reveal a striking example of genetic redundancy in the degradation of aromatic compounds.
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    The Complete Multipartite Genome Sequence of Cupriavidus necator JMP134, a Versatile Pollutant Degrader
    (2010) Lykidis, Athanasios; Perez-Pantoja, Danilo; Ledger, Thomas; Mavromatis, Kostantinos; Anderson, Iain J.; Ivanova, Natalia N.; Hooper, Sean D.; Lapidus, Alla; Lucas, Susan; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Kyrpides, Nikos C.
    Background: Cupriavidus necator JMP134 is a Gram-negative beta-proteobacterium able to grow on a variety of aromatic and chloroaromatic compounds as its sole carbon and energy source.