Isolation and expansion of the catabolic potential of a Pseudomonas putida strain able to grow in the presence of high concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons

Pseudomonas putida DOT-T1 was isolated after enrichment on minimal medium with 1% (vol/vol) toluene as the sole C source. The strain was able to grow in the presence of 90% (vol/vol) toluene and was tolerant to organic solvents whose log P(ow) (octanol/water partition coefficient) was higher than 2.3. Solvent tolerance was inducible, as bacteria grown in the absence of toluene required an adaptation period before growth restarted. Mg2+ ions in the culture medium improved solvent tolerance. Electron micrographs showed that cells growing on high concentrations of toluene exhibited a wider periplasmic space than cells growing in the absence of toluene and preserved the outer membrane integrity. Polarographic studies and the accumulation of pathway intermediates showed that the strain used the toluene-4-monooxygenase pathway to catabolyze toluene. Although the strain also thrived in high concentrations of m- and p-xylene, these hydrocarbons could not be used as the sole C source for growth. The catabolic potential of the isolate was expanded to include m- and p-xylene and related hydrocarbons by transfer of the TOL plasmid pWW0-Km.