title: Discovery of a marine bacterium producing 4-hydroxybenzoate and its alkyl esters, parabens.
abstract: Chemically synthesized 4-hydroxybenzoate (4HBA) is widely used in the chemical and electrical industries as a material for producing polymers such as those of the liquid crystal type. Its alkyl esters, called parabens, have been the most widely used preservatives by the food and cosmetic industries. We report here for the first time a microorganism, a marine bacterium, which biosynthesizes these petrochemical products. The marine bacterial strain, A4B-17, which was found to belong to the genus Microbulbifer on the basis of its rRNA and gyrB sequences, was isolated from an ascidian in the coastal waters of Palau. Strain A4B-17 was, surprisingly, found to produce 10 mg/liter of 4HBA, together with its butyl (24 mg/liter), heptyl (0.4 mg/liter), and nonyl (6 mg/liter) esters. We therefore characterized 23 other marine bacteria belonging to the genus Microbulbifer, which our institute had previously isolated from various marine environments, and found that these bacteria also produced 4HBA, although with low production levels (less than one-fifth of that produced by A4B-17). We also show that the alkyl esters of 4HBA produced by strain A4B-17 were effective in preventing the growth of yeasts, molds, and gram-positive bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Marine Biotechnology Institute, 3-75-1 Heita, Kamaishi-shi, Iwate 026-0001, Japan.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Choryu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Kaneo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanoh
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shizuri
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Misawa
mesh_terms: D034241:Alteromonadaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D027081:DNA Gyrase / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010226:Parabens / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014561:Urochordata / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010226:Parabens; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D027081:DNA Gyrase; C038193:4-hydroxybenzoic acid