Open AccessDetection and sequencing of the microcystin LR‐degrading gene, mlrA , from new bacteria isolated from Japanese lakes
Author(s) -
Saito Takeshi,
Okano Kunihiro,
Park HoDong,
Itayama Tomoaki,
Inamori Yuhei,
Neilan Brett A.,
Burns Brendan P.,
Sugiura Norio
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/s0378-1097(03)00847-4
Subject(s) - sphingomonas , gene , bacteria , biology , microcystin , gene cluster , primer (cosmetics) , microbiology and biotechnology , polymerase chain reaction , genetics , 16s ribosomal rna , cyanobacteria , chemistry , organic chemistry
mlrA is the only microcystin‐degrading gene detected in Sphingomonas sp. MJ‐PV. The gene has an extremely rare nucleotide sequence and homologous genes have not yet been discovered in the DNA database. We discovered the existence of a gene homologous to mlrA in new microcystin‐degrading bacteria, MD‐1 and Y2. These strains possessed mlrA homologues, and the identities of the genes of MD‐1 and Y2 with the corresponding MJ‐PV exceeded 98% and 84%, respectively. On the other hand, the mlrA gene was not detected in laboratory strains of the closely related Sphingomonas spp. strains employing hemi‐nested polymerase chain reaction detection using two primer sets. Although the microcystin‐degrading bacteria were closely related strains, they did not cluster together as the same species. We can conclude that the mlrA gene is conserved in three different bacterial species, and it is unique to microcystin degraders but not to the genus Sphingomonas .