English
Overexpression of Hydrocarbon-Degrading Genes in Phialemonium inflatum FBCC-F1546 for Enhanced PAH Biodegradation
Seoyeon Kim1,2, Dongwook Kim3, Taeho Kim3, Sun Choi3 Jaeduk Goh4, and Sook-Young Park1,2,3
1 Department of Plant Medicine, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea
2 Interdisciplinary Program in IT-Bio Convergence System (BK21 plus), Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea
3 Dept. of Agricultural Life Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Republic of Korea
4 Fungi Research Division, Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources, Sangju 37242, Korea
*Email: spark@scnu.ac.kr
Bioremediation is a promising strategy for restoring environments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Phialemonium inflatum has been reported to possess the ability to degrade PAHs; however, the molecular basis of this capability remains largely unknown. In this study, genome analysis of P. inflatum identified 11 genes putatively involved in PAH degradation. These genes include homologs of phenanthrene 1,2-monooxygenase, PAH dioxygenase large subunit, salicylate hydrolase, and 4,5-dihydroxyphthalate decarboxylase. To investigate their functional roles, overexpression mutants were generated by placing each target gene under the control of the Cochliobolus heterostrophus glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. These engineered strains will facilitate further investigation of gene functions and their potential contribution to enhanced PAH biodegradation. [This work was supported by the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through a project to make multi-ministerial national biological research resources more advanced, funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (2021003420003).]
