Homologous Plasmids from Soil Bacteria Encoding D,L-Halidohydrolases

We isolated and characterized D,L-halidohydrolases fromfive different soil bacteria. Three of these bacterial strains bear plasmidswith sizes of approximately 60 kb. Curing and mating experiments indicatedthat these three plasmids pFL160, pFL170, and pFL190 encoded a dehalogenase.Owing to their biochemical characterization, these halidohydrolases wereclosely related among each other and to the DhlIV halidohydrolase, encoded byplasmid pFL40 from Alcaligenes xylosoxidans ssp.denitrificans ABIV. Restriction enzyme patterns as well asDNA-hybridization experiments with an internal fragment of dhlIVrevealed a high degree of homology among each of these four plasmids andtheir dehalogenase genes.