Enhanced translocation and growth of Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4 in the alkane phase of aqueous-alkane two phase cultures were mediated by GroEL2 overexpression.

We previously reported that R. erythropolis PR4 translocated from the aqueous to the alkane phase, and then grew in two phase cultures to which long-chain alkanes had been added. This was considered to be beneficial for bioremediation. In the present study, we investigated the proteins involved in the translocation of R. erythropolis PR4. The results of our proteogenomic analysis suggested that GroEL2 was upregulated more in cells that translocated inside of the pristane (C19) phase than in those located at the aqueous-alkane interface attached to the n-dodecane (C12) surface. PR4 (pK4-EL2-1) and PR4 (pK4-ΔEL2-1) strains were constructed to confirm the effects of the upregulation of GroEL2 in translocated cells. The expression of GroEL2 in PR4 (pK4-EL2-1) was 15.5-fold higher than that in PR4 (pK4-ΔEL2-1) in two phase cultures containing C12. The growth and cell surface lipophilicity of PR4 were enhanced by the introduction of pK4-EL2-1. These results suggested that the plasmid overexpression of groEL2 in PR4 (pK4-EL2-1) led to changes in cell localization, enhanced growth, and increased cell surface lipophilicity. Thus, we concluded that the overexpression of GroEL2 may play an important role in increasing the organic solvent tolerance of R. erythropolis PR4 in aqueous-alkane two phase cultures.