Cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding the 72-kilodalton dehydrogenase subunit of alcohol dehydrogenase from Acetobacter aceti.

A genomic library of Acetobacter aceti DNA was constructed by using a broad-host-range cosmid vector. Complementation of a spontaneous alcohol dehydrogenase-deficient mutant resulted in the isolation of a plasmid designated pAA701. Subcloning and deletion analysis of pAA701 limited the region that complemented the deficiency in alcohol dehydrogenase activity of the mutant. The nucleotide sequence of this region was determined and showed that this region contained the full structural gene for the 72-kilodalton dehydrogenase subunit of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme complex. The predicted amino acid sequence of the gene showed homology with sequences of methanol dehydrogenase structural genes of Paracoccus denitrificans and Methylobacterium organophilum.