1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) is a toxic compound that is recalcitrant to biodegradation in the environment. Attempts to isolate TCP-degrading organisms using enrichment cultivation have failed. A potential biodegradation pathway starts with hydrolytic dehalogenation to 2,3-dichloro-1-propanol (DCP), followed by oxidative metabolism. To obtain a practically applicable TCP-degrading organism, we introduced an engineered haloalkane dehalogenase with improved TCP degradation activity into the DCP-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas putida MC4. For this purpose, the dehalogenase gene (dhaA31) was cloned behind the constitutive dhlA promoter and was introduced into the genome of strain MC4 using a transposon delivery system. The transposon-located antibiotic resistance marker was subsequently removed using a resolvase step. Growth of the resulting engineered bacterium, P. putida MC4-5222, on TCP was indeed observed, and all organic chlorine was released as chloride. A packed-bed reactor with immobilized cells of strain MC4-5222 degraded >95% of influent TCP (0.33 mM) under continuous-flow conditions, with stoichiometric release of inorganic chloride. The results demonstrate the successful use of a laboratory-evolved dehalogenase and genetic engineering to produce an effective, plasmid-free, and stable whole-cell biocatalyst for the aerobic bioremediation of a recalcitrant chlorinated hydrocarbon.

Department of Biochemistry Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands

Department of Biochemistry Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands Department of Chemistry University of Engineering and Technology Lahore Faisalabad Campus Faisalabad Pakistan

Loschmidt Laboratories and Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment RECETOX Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

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