Desulfitobacterium hafniense Y51

The tetrachloroethene (PCE)-dechlorinating bacterium Desulfitobacterium hafniense Y51 has the ability to dechlorinate halogenated compounds under anaerobic conditions by dehalorespiration. This genome contains only two reductive dehalogenase genes, a lower number than reported in most other dehalorespiring strains. A remarkable feature of the genome is the large number of O-demethylase paralogs, which allow utilization of lignin-derived phenyl methyl ethers as electron donors. The large genome reveals a more versatile microorganism that can utilize a larger set of specialized electron donors and acceptors than previously thought. This is in sharp contrast to the PCE-dechlorinating strain Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195, which has a relatively small genome with a narrow metabolic repertoire. (HAMAP: DESHY)