Catabolic Plasmids Involved in the Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heteroaromatic Compounds

Abstract

Catabolic plasmids containing xenobiotic-degradative genes play an important role in distributing catabolic functions in nature. In the case of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) and heteroaromatic compounds, many degrading bacteria have a large catabolic plasmid that contains the genes for all or most of the mineralization pathways of these compounds. Although the list of catabolic plasmids for PAHs and heteroaromatic compounds is increasing continuously, in this chapter, we focus on three extensively investigated catabolic plasmids: naphthalene catabolic plasmid NAH7 from Pseudomonas putida G7, carbazole catabolic plasmid pCAR1 from Pseudomonas resinovorans CA10, and carbazole catabolic plasmid pCAR3 from Novosphingobium sp. KA1. We summarize biochemical investigations to elucidate the xenobiotic degrading functions and basic plasmid functions (e.g., incompatibility, replication, transfer). In addition, complete nucleotide sequences of these three catabolic plasmids have been determined and have provided important and interesting clues to understanding plasmid functions. We discuss the genomic features of these plasmids in conjunction with the results of physiological investigations.KeywordsAnthranilic AcidCatabolic GeneHeteroaromatic CompoundPolycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon DegradationNaphthalene DegradationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.