Skip to main content
PMC home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1996 Oct;40(10):2276–2279. doi: 10.1128/aac.40.10.2276

Plasmid-mediated formaldehyde resistance in Escherichia coli: characterization of resistance gene.

N Kümmerle 1, H H Feucht 1, P M Kaulfers 1
PMCID: PMC163518  PMID: 8891129

Abstract

The formaldehyde resistance mechanisms in the formaldehyde-resistant strain Escherichia coli VU3695 were investigated. A large (4.6-kb) plasmid DNA fragment encompassing the formaldehyde resistance gene was sequenced. A single 1,107-bp open reading frame encoding a glutathione- and NAD-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase was identified and sequenced, and the enzyme was expressed in an in vitro assay and purified. Amino acid sequence homology studies showed 62.4 to 63.2% identity with class III alcohol dehydrogenases isolated from horse, human, and rat livers. We demonstrated that the resistance mechanism in the formaldehyde-resistant strain E. coli VU3695 and in other formaldehyde-resistant members of the family Enterobacteriaceae is based on the enzymatic degradation of formaldehyde by a formaldehyde dehydrogenase.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (225.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ando M., Yoshimoto T., Ogushi S., Rikitake K., Shibata S., Tsuru D. Formaldehyde dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas putida. Purification and some properties. J Biochem. 1979 May;85(5):1165–1172. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Feucht H. H., Zöllner B., Polywka S., Laufs R. Study on reliability of commercially available hepatitis C virus antibody tests. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Mar;33(3):620–624. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.3.620-624.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Giri P. R., Krug J. F., Kozak C., Moretti T., O'Brien S. J., Seuanez H. N., Goldman D. Cloning and comparative mapping of a human class III (chi) alcohol dehydrogenase cDNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1989 Oct 16;164(1):453–460. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(89)91741-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gutheil W. G., Holmquist B., Vallee B. L. Purification, characterization, and partial sequence of the glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli: a class III alcohol dehydrogenase. Biochemistry. 1992 Jan 21;31(2):475–481. doi: 10.1021/bi00117a025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hakim R. M., Friedrich R. A., Lowrie E. G. Formaldehyde kinetics and bacteriology in dialyzers. Kidney Int. 1985 Dec;28(6):936–943. doi: 10.1038/ki.1985.221. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Heinzel M., Bellinger H. Mikrobiologische Untersuchungen an dezentralen Dosiergeräten für Desinfektionsmittel. Teil 1: Keimgehaltsuntersuchungen. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg B. 1981 Dec;174(4):299–313. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Heinzel M., Bellinger H. Mikrobiologische Untersuchungen an dezentralen Dosiergeräten für Desinfektionsmittel. Teil 2: Resistenzverhalten der isolierten Bakterien. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg B. 1982 Apr;176(1):47–54. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hohnloser W., Osswald B., Lingens F. Enzymological aspects of caffeine demethylation and formaldehyde oxidation by Pseudomonas putida C1. Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem. 1980 Dec;361(12):1763–1766. doi: 10.1515/bchm2.1980.361.2.1763. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Julià P., Pareś X., Jörnvall H. Rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase of class III. Primary structure, functional consequences and relationships to other alcohol dehydrogenases. Eur J Biochem. 1988 Feb 15;172(1):73–83. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1988.tb13857.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kaiser R., Holmquist B., Hempel J., Vallee B. L., Jörnvall H. Class III human liver alcohol dehydrogenase: a novel structural type equidistantly related to the class I and class II enzymes. Biochemistry. 1988 Feb 23;27(4):1132–1140. doi: 10.1021/bi00404a009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kaiser R., Holmquist B., Vallee B. L., Jörnvall H. Characteristics of mammalian class III alcohol dehydrogenases, an enzyme less variable than the traditional liver enzyme of class I. Biochemistry. 1989 Oct 17;28(21):8432–8438. doi: 10.1021/bi00447a024. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kaulfers P. M., Marquardt A. Demonstration of formaldehyde dehydrogenase activity in formaldehyde-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1991 Apr 15;63(2-3):335–338. doi: 10.1016/0378-1097(91)90108-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lin H. C., Lei S. P., Wilcox G. An improved DNA sequencing strategy. Anal Biochem. 1985 May 15;147(1):114–119. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(85)90016-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Roberts M., Elwell L. P., Falkow S. Molecular characterization of two beta-lactamase-specifying plasmids isolated from Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Bacteriol. 1977 Aug;131(2):557–563. doi: 10.1128/jb.131.2.557-563.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sharma C. P., Fox E. A., Holmquist B., Jörnvall H., Vallee B. L. cDNA sequence of human class III alcohol dehydrogenase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1989 Oct 31;164(2):631–637. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(89)91507-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wollmann A., Kaulfers P. M. Formaldehyde-resistance in Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa: identification of resistance genes by DNA-hybridization. Zentralbl Hyg Umweltmed. 1991 May;191(5-6):449–456. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES