Characterization of the Cobalamin and Fep Operons in Methylobium petrolphilum PM1

Technical Report · Tue Sep 06 04:00:00 EDT 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/917904· OSTI ID:917904

Ewing, J

The bacterium Methylobium petroleophilum PM1 is economically important due to its ability to degrade methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a fuel additive. Because PM1 is a representative of all MTBE degraders, it is important to understand the transport pathways critical for the organism to survive in its particular environment. In this study, the cobalamin pathway and select iron transport genes will be characterized to help further understand all metabolic pathways in PM1. PM1 contains a total of four cobalamin operons. A single operon is located on the chromosome. Located on the megaplasmid are two tandem repeats of cob operons and a very close representative of the cob operon located on the chromosome. The fep operon, an iron transport mechanism, lies within the multiple copies of the cob operon. The cob operon and the fep operon appear to be unrelated except for a shared need for the T-on-B-dependent energy transduction complex to assist the operons in moving large molecules across the outer membrane of the cell. A genomic study of the cob and the fep operons with that of phylogenetically related organisms helped to confirm the identity of the cob and fep operons and to represent the pathways. More study of the pathways should be done to find the relationship that positions the two seemingly unrelated cob and fep genes together in what appears to be one operon.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 917904
• Report Number(s): UCRL-TR-215218
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
ETHERS
FUEL ADDITIVES
GENE OPERONS
GENES
IRON
MEMBRANES
TRANSPORT