title: Cloning of the genes for degradation of the herbicides EPTC (S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate) and atrazine from Rhodococcus sp. strain TE1.
abstract: The degradation of the herbicides EPTC (S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate) and atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethyl-amino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) is associated with an indigenous plasmid in Rhodococcus sp. strain TE1. Plasmid DNA libraries of Rhodococcus sp. strain TE1 were constructed in a Rhodococcus-Escherichia coli shuttle vector, pBS305, and transferred into Rhodococcus sp. strain TE3, a derivative of Rhodococcus sp. strain TE1 lacking herbicide degradation activity, to select transformants capable of growing on EPTC as the sole source of carbon (EPTC+). Analysis of plasmids from the EPTC+ transformants indicated that the eptA gene, which codes for the enzyme required for EPTC degradation, residues on a 6.2-kb KpnI fragment. The cloned fragment also harbored the gene required for atrazine N dealkylation (atrA). The plasmid carrying the cloned fragment could be electroporated into a number of other Rhodococcus strains in which both eptA and atrA were fully expressed. No expression of the cloned genes was evident in E. coli strains. Subcloning of the 6.2-kb fragment to distinguish between EPTC- and atrazine-degrading genes was not successful.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Behki
mesh_terms: D001280:Atrazine / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006540:Herbicides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012240:Rhodococcus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D013859:Thiocarbamates / Q000378:metabolism*; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D006540:Herbicides; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013859:Thiocarbamates; D001280:Atrazine; C036251:EPTC