Marinobacter strain NCE312 has a Pseudomonas-like naphthalene dioxygenase

One strain of bacteria, designated NCE312, was isolated from a naphthalene-digesting chemostat culture that was inoculated with creosote-contaminated marine sediment. The strain was isolated based on its ability to grow using naphthalene as a sole carbon source. In addition, the strain degraded 2-methylnaphthalene and 1-methylnaphthalene. Analysis of a 16S rRNA gene sequence from NCE312 placed the isolate in the genus Marinobacter. Degenerate PCR primers were used to amplify a fragment of a naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase large subunit gene. A phylogenetic analysis indicated the Marinobacter naphthalene dioxygenase is similar to those from Pseudomonas and Burkholderia strains suggesting that the dioxygenase gene may have been transferred horizontally between these lineages of bacteria.