Cloning and sequencing of Pseudomonas genes determining sodium dodecyl sulfate biodegradation.

The nucleotide sequences of two genes involved in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) degradation, by Pseudomonas, have been determined. One of these, sdsA, codes for an alkyl sulfatase (58,957 Da) and has similarity (31.8% identity over a 201-amino acid stretch) to the N terminus of a predicted protein of unknown function from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The other gene, sdsB, codes for a positive activator protein (33,600 Da) that has extensive similarity with the lysR family of helix-turn-helix DNA-binding activator proteins.