title: Biodegradation of Picolinic Acid by a Newly Isolated Bacterium Alcaligenes faecalis Strain JQ135.
abstract: We isolated a bacterial strain JQ135 from municipal wastewater, which was capable of efficiently degrading picolinic acid (PA). Based on the physico-biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA analysis, strain JQ135 was identified as Alcaligenes faecalis. In addition, strain JQ135 produced an orange pigment when cultured in the Luria-Bertani medium, which is different from the previously reported strains of A. faecalis. During the degradation of PA by the resting strain JQ135 cells, only one intermediate, 6-hydroxypicolinic acid (6HPA), was detected by ultraviolet spectrophotometry, high-pressure liquid chromatography, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A random transposon mutagenesis library of strain JQ135 was constructed. One mutant, Mut-G31, could convert PA into 6HPA without further degradation. The disrupted gene (orf2) was amplified from Mut-G31, and its product showed 32% identity to the 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid kinase (KdkA) from Haemophilus influenzae. Results from complementation analysis confirmed that GTG was the initiation codon of the kdkA-like orf2, and that it was essential for PA biodegradation by strain JQ135. This study provides the first genetic evidence for the bacterial degradation of PA.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jiguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Yanting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Yuanheng Institute for Environmental Studies Co., Ltd., Nanjing, 210049, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Yuanheng Institute for Environmental Studies Co., Ltd., Nanjing, 210049, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environmental Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China. hejian@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D042481:Alcaligenes faecalis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010848:Picolinic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D010848:Picolinic Acids; C030614:picolinic acid