Figure 3

Amino acid alignment of the DcaA proteins. Amino acid alignment of the DcaA proteins of groups I (UP-RD-A) and III (UP-RD-4 and UP-RD-G) of the new identified RDs, with: those previously identified in the groundwater (RD-54), in D. dichloroeliminans strain DCA1 (D.d. DCA1) [Accession number AM183919 and AM183918], with PceA of Desulfitobacterium sp. strain Y51 (D. Y51) [AY706985], D. hafniense strain TCE1 (D.h.) [AJ439608], D. restrictus strain DSMZ 9455T (D.r.) [AJ439607], and with the recently identified WL rdhA1 (WL-RdhA1) [FJ010189]. Only the regions including amino acid variations among the different proteins are presented. Red rectangles A and B indicate the protein stretches where it has been previously indicated that resides 53% of the total amino acid diversity between DcaA and PceA [25]. Light blue residues are amino acids specific for the DcaA of the group III, proposed to be specific for the 1,2-DCA RD from Dehalobacter; dark grey residues those specific for the DcaA subunit of the group I, proposed to be specific for the 1,2-DCA RD from Desulfitobacterium; green residues those common to all the RDs identified in the aquifers contaminated by 1,2-DCA but not conserved in the PCE-specific RDs. Asterisks, colons and dots below the alignment indicate an identical position in all the proteins, a position with a conservative substitution and a position with a semi-conservative substitution, respectively.