A transposable class I composite transposon carrying mph (methyl parathion hydrolase) from Pseudomonas sp. strain WBC-3

Abstract

Pseudomonas sp. strain WBC-3 utilizes methyl parathion (O,O-dimethyl O-p-nitrophenol phosphorothioate) or para-nitrophenol as the sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy. A gene encoding methyl parathion hydrolase (MPH) had been characterized previously and found to be located on a typical class I composite transposon that comprised IS6100 (Tnmph). In this study, the transposability of this transposon was confirmed by transposition assays in two distinct mating-out systems. Tnmph was demonstrated to transpose efficiently in a random manner in Pseudomonas putida PaW340 by Southern blot and in Ralstonia sp. U2 by sequence analysis of the Tnmph insertion sites, both exhibiting MPH activity. The linkage of the mph-like gene with IS6100, together with the transposability of Tnmph, as well as its capability to transpose in other phylogenetically divergent bacterial species, suggest that Tnmph may contribute to the wide distribution of mph-like genes and the adaptation of bacteria to organophosphorus compounds. © 2009 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.