Molecular analysis of the poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) synthase gene from a methylotrophic bacterium, Paracoccus denitrificans

A 3.6-kb EcoRI-SnlI fragment of Paracoccus denitrificans DNA hybridized with a DNA probe carrying the poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) synthase gene (phaC) of Alcaligenes eutrophus. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this region showed the presence of a 1,872-bp open reading frame (ORF), which corresponded to a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 69,537. Upstream of the ORF, a promoter-like sequence was found. Escherichia coli carrying the fusion gene between lacZ and the ORF accumulated a level of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) that was as much as 20 wt% of the cell dry weight in the presence of beta-ketothiolase and acetoacetyl-coenzyme A reductase genes of A. eutrophus. The ORF was designated phaC(Pd). A plasmid vector carrying the phaC(Pd)-lacZ fusion gene downstream of the promoter-like sequence expressed P-galactosidase activity in P. denitrificans, When a multicopy and broad-host-range vector carrying the ORF along with the promoter-like sequence was introduced into P. denitrificans, the PHA content in the cells increased by twofold compared with cells carrying only a vector sequence.