PLASMID-MEDIATED MINERALIZATION OF CARBOFURAN BY SPHINGOMONAS SP STRAIN CF06

A bacterial strain (CF06) that mineralized both the carbonyl group and the aromatic ring of the insecticide carbofuran and that is capable o f using carbofuran as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen was isolate d from a soil in Washington state. Phospholipid fatty acid and 16S rRN A sequencing analysis indicate that CF06 is a Sphingomonas sp. CF06 co ntains five plasmids, at least some of which are required for metaboli sm of carbofuran, Loss of the plasmids induced by growth at 42 degrees C resulted in the inability of the cured strain to grow on carbofuran as a sole source of carbon. Introduction of the plasmids confers on P seudomonas fluorescens M480R the ability to use carbofuran as a sole s ource of carbon for growth and energy. Of the five plasmids, four are rich in insertion sequence elements and contain large regions of overl ap. Rearrangements, deletions, and loss of individual plasmids that re sulted in the loss of the carbofuran-degrading phenotype were observed following introduction of Tn5.