Identification and expression analyses of putative sesquiterpene synthase genes in Phormidium sp. and prevalence of geoA-like genes in a drinking water reservoir.

The occurrence of taste and odor problems in drinking water supplies is a widespread phenomenon. From a Saxonian water reservoir we isolated a cyanobacterial species which was classified as Phormidium sp. Under laboratory conditions it produced an earthy-musty smell due to the synthesis of geosmin. The only genes shown to be involved in geosmin biosynthesis are cyc2 and geoA of Streptomyces. Based on the alignment of Cyc2 with a putative sesquiterpene synthase of Nostoc punctiforme, a degenerate primer pair was designed. By PCR, we could amplify two similar genes in Phormidium sp., which we named geoA1 and geoA2. Their expression was studied by reverse transcription-PCR. This revealed that both genes are expressed at 20 degrees C and a light-dark cycle of 12 h. Expression was not detectable at the end of a 24-h dark period. To analyze the prevalence of geoA1 and geoA2 in samples from the phytobenthos, we generated PCR fragments with the same degenerate primer pair. Fifty-five different sequences that might represent geoA variants were obtained. The GC content ranged from 42% to 67%, suggesting that taxonomically very different bacteria might contain such genes.