Biotransformation of the fungicide chlorothalonil by bacterial glutathione S-transferase

A gene responsible for the chlorothalonil-biotransformation was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Ochrobactrum anthropi SH35B, an isolated bacterium strain from soil. We determined the nucleotide sequences and found an open reading frame for glutathione S-transferase (GST). The drug-hypersensitive Escherichia coli KAM3 cells transformed with a plasmid carrying the GST gene can grow in the presence of chlorothalonil. The GST of O. anthropi SH35B was expressed in E. coli and purified by affinity chromatography. The fungicide chlorothalonil was rapidly transformed by the purified GST in the presence of glutathione. No significant difference in the chlorothalonil-biotransformation effect was observed among the thiol compounds (cysteine, reduced glutathione, and beta-mercaptoethanol). Thus, the result reported here is the first evidence on the chlorothalonil-biotransformation by conjugation with the cellular free thiol groups, especially glutathione, catalyzed by the bacterial GST.