Four genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens that encode the biosynthesis of pyrrolnitrin

Pyrrolnitrin is a secondary metabolite of Pseudomonas and Burkholderia sp. strains with strong antifungal activity. Production of pyrrolnitrin has been correlated with the ability of some bacteria to control plant diseases caused by fungal pathogens, including the damping-off pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Pseudomonas fluorescens BL915 has been reported to produce pyrrolnitrin and to be an effective biocontrol agent for this pathogen. We have isolated a 32-kb genomic DNA fragment from this strain that contains genes involved in the biosynthesis of pyrrolnitrin. Marker-exchange mutagenesis of this DNA with Tn5 revealed the presence of a 6.2-kb region that contains genes required for the synthesis of pyrrolnitrin. The nucleotide sequence of the 6.2-kb region was determined and found to contain a cluster of four genes that are required for the production of pyrrolnitrin. Deletion mutations in any of the four genes resulted in a pyrrolnitrin-nonproducing phenotype. The putative coding sequences of the four individual genes were cloned by PCR and fused to the tac promoter from Escherichia coli. In each case, the appropriate tac promoter-pyrrolnitrin gene fusion was shown to complement the pyrrolnitrin-negative phenotype of the corresponding deletion mutant. Transfer of the four gene cluster to E. coli resulted in the production of pyrrolnitrin by this organism, thereby demonstrating that the four genes are sufficient for the production of this metabolite and represent all of the genes required to encode the pathway for pyrrolnitrin biosynthesis.