Abstract

Rhodococcus FMF is a gram-positive bacterium isolated for the first time from soil samples of Tabriz refinery in Iran. This microorganism is able to catabolize dibenzothiophene to 2-hydroxybiphenyl and inorganic sulfur without the destruction of carbon-carbon bonds. Three structural genes, dszA, dszB, and dszC have been characterized and shown to be responsible for this phenotype. In this work, dszC gene from Rhodococcus FMF was identified and then isolated by PCR technique using the nucleotide sequence of dszC gene from Rhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8 to design required primers. After amplification, the purified PCR product was cloned into plasmid vector pTZ57R/T. Further analysis by mapping and sequencing showed the identity of 689 nucleotides from this gene compared to the dszC gene from Rhodococcus sp. Strain IGTS8 as a key microorganism in biodesulfurization field.