Isolation and characterization of indene bioconversion genes from Rhodococcus strain I24

Rhodococcus strain 124 is able to convert indene into indandiol via the actions of at least two dioxygenase systems and a putative monooxygenase system. We have identified a cosmid clone from 124 genomic DNA that is able to confer the ability to convert indene to indandiol upon Rhodococcus erythropolis SQ1, a strain that normally can not convert or metabolize indene. HPLC analysis reveals that the transformed SQ1 strain produces cis-(1R,2S)-indandiol, suggesting that the cosmid clone encodes a naphthalenetype dioxygenase. DNA sequence analysis of a portion of this clone confirmed the presence of genes for the dioxygenase as well as genes encoding a dehydrogenase and putative aldolase. These genes will be useful for manipulating indene bioconversion in Rhodococcus strain 124.