Diversity and Distribution of N-Acylhomoserine Lactone (AHL)-Degrading Activity and AHL-Lactonase (AiiM) in Genus Microbacterium

N-Acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-degrading enzyme, AiiM, was identified from the potato leaf-associated Microbacterium testaceum StLB037. In this study, we cloned eight aiiM gene homologues from other AHL-degrading Microbacterium strains. The similarity of the chromosomal locus of the aiiM gene is associated with the phylogenetic classification based on 16S rRNA. Degenerate PCR revealed that the aiiM gene was only conserved in AHL-degrading Microbacterium strains, but not in fifteen Microbacterium type strains or two Microbacterium isolates from other plants. These results suggested that the high level of AHL-degrading activity in Microbacterium strains was caused by the aiiM gene encoded on their chromosome.