DESIGNING A NEW RECOMBINANT STRAIN WITH ADDITIONAL COPY NUMBER OF DSZ CLUSTER TO ENHANCE BIODESULFURIZATION ACTIVITY IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA ATCC 9027

Document Type : Regular Paper

Authors

1 National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, I. R. of Iran, 14155-6343

2 National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, I. R. of Iran, 14155-6343,

3 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

Abstract

The combustion of sulfur-rich fossil fuels leads to the release of acid rain-causing sulfur
dioxide into the environment. The aim of this study was to enhance the efficiency of biodesulfurization
using Pseudomonas aeruginosa through the duplication of the dsz cluster in this organism. One copy of
the dsz cluster was inserted by a tri-parental mating method into the chromosome of Pseudomonas
aeruginosa ATCC 9027 strain, and another copy in the form of a plasmid was cloned under control of a
tac promoter. The recombinant Pseudomonas sp. was able to desulfurize dibenzothiophene more
efficiently than the strains which contain only one copy of dsz cluster. Efficiency of dibenzothiophene
(DBT) desulfurisation was measured through the release of 2-hidroxybiphenyle (2-HPB).This is the first
time that an increase in desulfurisation activity through gene duplication has been shown.

Keywords