Identification of Methyl Halide-Utilizing Genes in the Methyl Bromide-Utilizing Bacterial Strain IMB-1 Suggests a High Degree of Conservation of Methyl Halide-Specific Genes in Gram-Negative Bacteria

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Abstract
Strain IMB-1, an aerobic methylotrophic member of the alpha subgroup of the Proteobacteria , can grow with methyl bromide as a sole carbon and energy source. A single c mu gene cluster was identified in IMB-1 that contained six open reading frames: cmuC, cmuA, orf146, paaE, hutI , and partial metF . CmuA from IMB-1 has high sequence homology to the methyltransferase CmuA from Methylobacterium chloromethanicum and Hyphomicrobium chloromethanicum and contains a C-terminal corrinoid-binding motif and an N-terminal methyltransferase motif. However, cmuB , identified in M. chloromethanicum and H. chloromethanicum, was not detected in IMB-1.