Detection of genes for alkane and naphthalene catabolism in Rhodococcus sp. strain 1BN

Rhodococcus sp. 1BN was isolated from a contaminated site and showed various biodegradative capabilities. Besides naphthalene, strain 1BN degraded medium- (C-6) and long-chain alkanes (C-16-C-28), benzene and toluene, alone or when the hydrocarbons were mixed in equal proportions. The nucleotide sequence of an alk polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment revealed a 59% nucleotide homology to the Pseudomonas oleovorans alkB gene. The nar fragments were highly homologous to genes coding for large and small subunits of cis-naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase (narAa and narAb) and to cis-naphthalene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (narB) from other rhodococci, The oxidation of indene to cis-(1S,2R)-1,2-dihydroxyindan by toluene-induced cells allows to hypothesize that strain 1BN also carries a toluene dioxygenase-like system.