NC_012490:2006716 Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4, complete genome
Host Lineage: Rhodococcus erythropolis; Rhodococcus; Nocardiaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4 (NBRC 100887) was isolated from Pacific Ocean seawater. It has the enzymes necessary for the degradation of different alkanes, such as pristane. PR4 shows tolerance to hydrocarbons and it is capable of producing several compounds with medical, industrial, and nutritional applications such as beta-carotenes (i.e. astaxanthin) and fatty acid-containing extracellular polysaccharides (i.e. mucoidan). Rhodococcus species are soil bacteria with remarkable metabolic versatility leading to several possible applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and for industrial bioremediation. This species has shown potential in producing different valuable compounds. As examples, some Rhodococcus erythropolis strains posses a nitrile hydratase, an enzyme used for the industrial production of acrylamide and nicotinamide, while other strains are capable of transforming indene to 1,2-indandiol, a key precursor of the AIDS drug Crixivan.