Product and product-independent induction of butane oxidation in Pseudomonas butanovora

Pseudomonas butanovora grows on butane by means of an inducible soluble alkane monooxygenase (sBMO). The induction of sBMO was studied using the wild type and a sBMO reporter strain. The reporter strain has the lacZ::kan cassette inserted into bmoX, the gene that encodes the α-subunit of the hydroxylase of sBMO. The β-galactosidase activity in the reporter strain was not induced by butane, but was induced by 1-butanol and butyraldehyde. P. butanovora expressed sBMO product-independent activity at 3.0 ± 1 nmol ethylene oxide min−1 mg protein−1 in stationary phase. The sBMO product-independent activity likely primes the expression of sBMO by butane.