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Isolation and characterization of homocholine-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strains A9 and B9b

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Abstract

Soil isolates, identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain A9 and Pseudomonas sp. strain B9b (based on the phenotypic features and phylogenetic analysis) were found to degrade homocholine aerobically. Morphological characterization using the optical microscope under light and phase contrast conditions showed that cells of strain A9 formed short rods measuring approximately 0.5–1 × 1.5–2.0 μm in size while those of B9b formed long rods of 0.5–1 × 2.5–3.0 μm during the early growth phase on both nutrient broth and basal-homocholine (basal-HC) media. Strain A9 was able to grow on basal-HC medium at a wide range of temperatures (4–41°C) whereas strain B9b was not able to grow at either 4 or 41°C. Comparative 16S rRNA sequencing studies indicated that strain A9 fell into the Pseudomonas putida subclade whereas strain B9b located in Pseudomonas fulva subclade. Washed cells of strains A9 and B9b degraded homocholine completely within 6 h with concomitant formation of several metabolites. Analysis of the metabolites by capillary electrophoresis, fast atom bombardment–mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, showed trimethylamine (TMA) as the major metabolite beside β-alanine betaine and trimethylaminopropionaldehyde. Therefore, the possible degradation pathway of homocholine in the isolated strains is through successive oxidation of the alcohol group (–OH) to aldehyde (–CHO) and acid (–COOH), and thereafter the cleavage of β-alanine betaine C–N bonds yielding trimethylamine and an alkyl chain.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professor Hisashi Tsujimoto (Laboratory of Plant Genetics and Breeding Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University) for permission to use the laboratory microscopes of his laboratory. We also thank Professor Takeshi Sanekata (Laboratory of Veterinary Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University) for his assistance in gram staining and electron microscopy. We thank Professor Kip A. Kates (Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University, Editor, Global issues in Language Education Newsletter, MA instructor, Teachers College, Columbia University) and Dr Esam E. Elgorashi (Department of Paraclinical Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa) for their assistance in English editing. Financial assistance from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan in the form of a scholarship for the first author is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Jiro Arima, Tsuyoshi Ichiyanagi & Nobuhiro Mori

  3. National Institutes for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Biodiversity Division Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Emi Sakuno

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  1. Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed
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Correspondence to Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed.

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Mohamed Ahmed, I.A., Arima, J., Ichiyanagi, T. et al. Isolation and characterization of homocholine-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strains A9 and B9b. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26, 1455–1464 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0320-z

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