Metabolism of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid and naphthalene via gentisic acid by distinctly different sets of enzymes in Burkholderia sp. strain BC1.

Burkholderia sp. strain BC1, a soil bacterium, isolated from a naphthalene balls manufacturing waste disposal site, is capable of utilizing 2-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid (2H1NA) and naphthalene individually as the sole source of carbon and energy. To deduce the pathway for degradation of 2H1NA, metabolites isolated from resting cell culture were identified by a combination of chromatographic and spectrometric analyses. Characterization of metabolic intermediates, oxygen uptake studies and enzyme activities revealed that strain BC1 degrades 2H1NA via 2-naphthol, 1,2,6-trihydroxy-1,2-dihydronaphthalene and gentisic acid. In addition, naphthalene was found to be degraded via 1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-dihydronaphthalene, salicylic acid and gentisic acid, with the putative involvement of the classical nag pathway. Unlike most other Gram-negative bacteria, metabolism of salicylic acid in strain BC1 involves a dual pathway, via gentisic acid and catechol, with the latter being metabolized by catechol 1,2-dioxygenase. Involvement of a non-oxidative decarboxylase in the enzymic transformation of 2H1NA to 2-naphthol indicates an alternative catabolic pathway for the bacterial degradation of hydroxynaphthoic acid. Furthermore, the biochemical observations on the metabolism of structurally similar compounds, naphthalene and 2-naphthol, by similar but different sets of enzymes in strain BC1 were validated by real-time PCR analyses.