Cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding an aldehyde dehydrogenase that is induced by growing Alteromonas sp. Strain KE10 in a low concentration of organic nutrients.

The protein composition of Alteromonas sp. strain KE10 cultured at two different organic-nutrient concentrations was determined by using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The cellular levels of three proteins, OlgA, -B, and -C, were considerably higher in cells grown in a low concentration of organic nutrient medium (LON medium; 0.2 mg of carbon per liter) than cells grown in a high concentration of organic nutrient medium (HON; 200 mg of C liter(-1)) or cells starved for organic nutrients. In the LON medium, the cellular levels of the Olg proteins were higher at the exponential growth phase than at the stationary growth phase. A sequence of the gene for OlgA revealed that the amino acid sequence had a high degree of similarity to the NAD(+)-dependent aldehyde dehydrogenases of several bacteria. OlgA, expressed in Escherichia coli, catalyzed the dehydrogenation of acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and butyraldehyde. The aldehyde dehydrogenase activity of KE10 was higher in cells growing exponentially in LON medium than in HON. OlgA may be involved in the growth under low-nutrient conditions. The physiological role of OlgA is discussed here.