Evaluation of strains isolated by growth on naphthalene and biphenyl for hybridization of genes to dioxygenase probes and polychlorinated biphenyl-degrading ability.

Approximately equal numbers of bacteria were isolated from primarily tropical soils by growth on biphenyl and naphthalene to compare their competence in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) degradation. The strains isolated by growth on biphenyl catalyzed more extensive PCB degradation than the strains isolated by growth on naphthalene, suggesting that naphthalene cocontamination may be only partially effective in stimulating the cometabolism of lower chlorinated PCBs. Probes were made from the bph, nah, and tod genes encoding the large iron iron sulfur protein of the dioxygenase complex and hybridized to 19 different strains. The hybridization patterns did not correlate well with the substrates of isolation, suggesting that there is considerable diversity in these genes in nature and that probe hybridization is not a reliable indication of catabolic capacity. The strains with the most extensive PCB degradation capacity did strongly hybridize to the bph probe, but a few strains that exhibited strong hybridization had poor PCB-degrading ability. Of the 19 strains studied, 5 hybridized to more than one probe and 2, including one strong PCB degrader, hybridized to all three probes. Southern blots showed that the bph and nah probes hybridized to separate bands, suggesting that multiple dioxygenases were present. Multiple dioxygenases may be an important feature of competitive decomposers in nature and hence may not be rare. Most of the isolates identified were members of the beta subgroup of the Proteobacteria, a few were gram positive, and none were true Pseudomonas species.