title: Environmental distribution of the trichloroethene reductive dehalogenase gene (tceA) suggests lateral gene transfer among Dehalococcoides.
abstract: The trichloroethene reductive dehalogenase gene (tceA) of Dehalococcoides spp. was detected in 12 of 21 trichloroethene-to-ethene dechlorinating enrichment cultures established from aquifer and sediment samples collected from diverse geographic locations in the USA. Analysis of the tceA chromosomal regions indicated that the tceA genes shared greater than 95% sequence identity, and all shared identical tceAB spacer sequences and tceB genes downstream of tceA. A putative transposable element (PTE) was present 1077 bp downstream of the tceB stop codon in three of eight chromosomal regions analyzed. Sequence identity was interrupted downstream of tceB and upstream or downstream of the PTE, suggesting that intrachromosomal or interchromosomal transfer of tceAB had occurred.
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0512, USA.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krajmalnik-Brown
authors.forename: Youlboong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Kirsti M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ritalahti
authors.forename: F Michael
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Löffler
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D041862:Chloroflexi / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C112990:tetrachloroethene dehalogenase