Diversity of Transconjugants that Acquired Plasmid pJP4 or pEMT1 after Inoculation of a Donor Strain in the A- and B-horizon of an Agricultural Soil and Description of Burkholderia hospita sp. nov. and Burkholderia terricola sp. nov

• Published in: Systematic and applied microbiology Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 340 - 352
• Main Authors: Goris, Johan, Dejonghe, Winnie, Falsen, Enevold, De Clerck, Elke, Geeraerts, Ben, Willems, Anne, Top, Eva M., Vandamme, Peter, De Vos, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Jena Elsevier GmbH 01.10.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: 2,4-D; 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid - metabolism; Agriculture; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Betaproteobacteria - classification; Betaproteobacteria - genetics; Bioaugmentation; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Burkholderia - classification; Burkholderia - genetics; Conjugation, Genetic; Culture Media; DNA, Bacterial - analysis; DNA, Ribosomal - analysis; Environment and pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genetically engineered organisms behavior (microorganisms, plants, animals); horizontal gene transfer; host range; identification; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Plasmids - genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Soil Microbiology; Soil Pollutants - metabolism; Stenotrophomonas - classification; Stenotrophomonas - genetics; identification; 2,4-D; Bioaugmentation; horizontal gene transfer; host range; Biodegradation; Recombinant microorganism; Microorganism interrelationships; Description; Taxonomy; Cultivated soil; Pesticides; Herbicide; Depth; Genetic transfer; Plasmid; Bacterial inoculation; Soil horizons; Bacteria; New species; Burkholderia; Conjugation
• ISSN: 0723-2020; 1618-0984
• DOI: 10.1078/0723-2020-00134

We examined the diversity of transconjugants that acquired the catabolic plasmids pJP4 or pEMT1, which encode degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), in microcosms with agricultural soil inoculated with a donor strain (Dejonghe, W., Goris, J., El Fantroussi, S., Höfte, M., De Vos, P., Verstraete, W., and Top, E. M. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2000, p. 3297–3304). Using repetitive element PCR fingerprinting, eight different rep-clusters and six separate isolates could be discriminated among 95 transconjugants tested. Representative isolates were identified using 16S rDNA sequencing, cellular fatty acid analysis, whole-cell protein analysis and/or DNA-DNA hybridisations. Plasmids pJP4 and pEMT1 appeared to have a similar transfer and expression range, and were preferably acquired and expressed in soil by indigenous representatives of Ralstonia and Burkholderia. Two rep-clusters were shown to represent novel Burkholderia species, for which the names Burkholderia hospita sp. nov. and Burkholderia terricola sp. nov. are proposed. When easily degradable carbon sources were added together with the plasmid-bearing donor strain, also a significant proportion of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates were found. The transconjugant collections isolated from A- (0–30 cm depth) and B-horizon (30–60 cm depth) soil were similar, except for B. terricola transconjugants, which were only isolated from the B-horizon.