Mechanism of 4-nitrophenol oxidation in Rhodococcus sp. Strain PN1: characterization of the two-component 4-nitrophenol hydroxylase and regulation of its expression.

4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) is a toxic product of the hydrolysis of organophosphorus pesticides such as parathion in soil. Rhodococcus sp. strain PN1 degrades 4-NP via 4-nitrocatechol (4-NC) for use as the sole carbon, nitrogen, and energy source. A 5-kb EcoRI DNA fragment previously cloned from PN1 contained a gene cluster (nphRA1A2) involved in 4-NP oxidation. From sequence analysis, this gene cluster is expected to encode an AraC/XylS family regulatory protein (NphR) and a two-component 4-NP hydroxylase (NphA1 and NphA2). A transcriptional assay in a Rhodococcus strain revealed that the transcription of nphA1 is induced by only 4-NP (of several phenolic compounds tested) in the presence of nphR, which is constitutively expressed. Disruption of nphR abolished transcriptional activity, suggesting that nphR encodes a positive regulatory protein. The two proteins of the 4-NP hydroxylase, NphA1 and NphA2, were independently expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by ion-exchange chromatography or affinity chromatography. The purified NphA2 reduced flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) with the concomitant oxidation of NADH, while the purified NphA1 oxidized 4-NP into 4-NC almost quantitatively in the presence of FAD, NADH, and NphA2. This functional analysis, in addition to the sequence analysis, revealed that this enzyme system belongs to the two-component flavin-diffusible monooxygenase family. The 4-NP hydroxylase showed comparable oxidation activities for phenol and 4-chlorophenol to that for 4-NP and weaker activities for 3-NP and 4-NC.

Purification and characterization of alkylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase from butylphenol degradation pathway of Pseudomonas putida MT4.

Alkylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase was purified from the cell extract of recombinant Escherichia coli JM109 harboring the alkylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase gene (bupB) cloned from the butylphenol-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas putida MT4. The purified enzyme (BupB) showed relative meta-cleavage activities for the following catechols: catechol (100%), 4-methylcatechol (572%), 4-n-butylcatechol (185%), 4-n-hexylcatechol (53%), 4-n-heptylcatechol (45%), 4-n-nonylcatechol (10%), 4-tert-butylcatechol (0%), and 3-methylcatechol (33%). The kinetic parameters, namely, K(m) and V(max), for catechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 4-n-butylcatechol, were 23.4, 8.4, and 6.5 microM and 25.8, 76.9, and 18.0 U mg(-1), respectively. These results suggest that BupB has broad substrate specificity for 4-n-alkylcatechols.

Identification and characterization of another 4-nitrophenol degradation gene cluster, nps, in Rhodococcus sp. strain PN1.

4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) is a toxic compound formed in soil by the hydrolysis of organophosphorous pesticides, such as parathion. We previously reported the presence of the 4-NP degradation gene cluster (nphRA1A2) in Rhodococcus sp. strain PN1, which encodes a two-component 4-NP hydroxylase system that oxidizes 4-NP into 4-nitrocatechol. In the current study, another gene cluster (npsC and npsRA2A1B) encoding a similar 4-NP hydroxylase system was cloned from strain PN1. The enzymes from this 4-NP hydroxylase system (NpsA1 and NpsA2) were purified as histidine-tagged (His-) proteins and then characterized. His-NpsA2 showed NADH/FAD oxidoreductase activity, and His-NpsA1 showed 4-NP oxidizing activity in the presence of His-NpsA2. In the 4-NP oxidation using the reconstituted enzyme system (His-NpsA1 and His-NpsA2), hydroquinone (35% of 4-NP disappeared) and hydroxyquinol (59% of 4-NP disappeared) were detected in the presence of ascorbic acid as a reducing reagent, suggesting that, without the reducing reagent, 4-NP was converted into their oxidized forms, 1,4-benzoquinone and 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone. In addition, in the cell extract of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing npsB, a typical spectral change showing conversion of hydroxyquinol into maleylacetate was observed. These results indicate that this nps gene cluster, in addition to the nph gene cluster, is also involved in 4-NP degradation in strain PN1.

Purification and characterization of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase from the aniline degradation pathway of Acinetobacter sp. YAA and its mutant enzyme, which resists substrate inhibition.

Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O), a key enzyme in the meta-cleavage pathway of catechol metabolism, was purified from cell extract of recombinant Escherichia coli JM109 harboring the C23O gene (atdB) cloned from an aniline-degrading bacterium Acinetobacter sp. YAA. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration chromatography analysis suggested that the enzyme (AtdB) has a molecular mass of 35 kDa as a monomer and forms a tetrameric structure. It showed relative meta-cleavage activities for the following catechols tested: catechol (100%), 3-methylcatechol (19%), 4-methylcatechol (57%), 4-chlorocatechol (46%), and 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl (5%). To elevate the activity, a DNA self-shuffling experiment was carried out using the atdB gene. One mutant enzyme, named AtdBE286K, was obtained. It had one amino acid substitution, E286K, and showed 2.4-fold higher C23O activity than the wild-type enzyme at 100 microM. Kinetic analysis of these enzymes revealed that the wild-type enzyme suffered from substrate inhibition at >2 microM, while the mutant enzyme loosened substrate inhibition.