Alpha-subunit benzoate dioxygenase gene screening in bacterial associations obtained by selection on (chlorine) aromatic compounds

It was shown that fragments of the benA gene encoding the alpha subunit of benzoate dioxygenase were found in the total DNA of six bacterial associations obtained as a result of enrichment cultivation in the presence of biphenyl / chlorinated biphenyls. As a result of phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of amplified benA gene fragments, it was found that most of the studied fragments form clusters with homologous genes of the department / phylum Proteobacteria, the similarity level was 100%. The level of similarity with benA genes of known gram-negative strains-destructors was 79.5 - 89.7%. The benA gene, which was found in the DNA of the CHN4 association, forms a single cluster with the benA gene of strains of the genus Rhodococcus, and was 96% similar to the homologous gene of the straindestructor R. jostii RHA1.