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Catabolic pathway of gamma-caprolactone in the biocontrol agent Rhodococcus erythropolis
Corinne Barbey1, Alexandre Crépin, Amélie Cirou
1Laboratoire de Microbiologie Signaux et Microenvironnement, Normandie Université, EA 4312 Université de Rouen, IUT Evreux 55 rue Saint-Germain, 27000 Evreux, France.
Abstract:
Gamma-caprolactone (GCL) is well-known as a food flavor and has been recently described as a biostimulant molecule promoting the growth of bacteria with biocontrol activity against soft-rot pathogens. Among these biocontrol agents, Rhodococcus erythropolis, characterized by a remarkable metabolic versatility, assimilates various γ-butyrolactone molecules with a branched-aliphatic chain, such as GCL. The assimilative pathway of GCL in R. erythropolis was investigated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. This analysis suggests the involvement of the lactonase QsdA in ring-opening, a feature confirmed by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. According to proteome analysis, the open-chain form of GCL was degraded by β- and ω-oxidation coupled to the Krebs cycle and β-ketoadipate pathway. Ubiquity of qsdA gene among environmental R. erythropolis isolates was verified by PCR. In addition to a previous N-acyl homoserine lactone catabolic function, QsdA may therefore be involved in an intermediate degradative step of cyclic recalcitrant molecules or in synthesis of flavoring lactones.
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