Cloning of the phosphonoacetate hydrolase gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens 23F encoding a new type of carbon-phosphorus bond cleaving enzyme and its expression in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida.

The phnA gene encoding a novel carbon-phosphorus bond cleavage enzyme, phosphonoacetate hydrolase, from Pseudomonas fluorescens 23F was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida. It conferred on the latter host the ability to mineralize phosphonoacetate but on the former the ability to utilize it as sole phosphorus source only. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the phnA gene showed no significant homology with any data bank accessions.