Suenaga H, Mitsuoka M, Ura Y, Watanabe T, Furukawa K
Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
J Bacteriol. 2001 Sep;183(18):5441-4. doi: 10.1128/JB.183.18.5441-5444.2001.
Biphenyl dioxygenase (Bph Dox) catalyzes the initial oxygenation of biphenyl and related compounds. Bph Dox is a multicomponent enzyme in which a large subunit (encoded by the bphA1 gene) is significantly responsible for substrate specificity. By using the process of DNA shuffling of bphA1 of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707 and Burkholderia cepacia LB400, a number of evolved Bph Dox enzymes were created. Among them, an Escherichia coli clone expressing chimeric Bph Dox exhibited extremely enhanced benzene-, toluene-, and alkylbenzene-degrading abilities. In this evolved BphA1, four amino acids (H255Q, V258I, G268A, and F277Y) were changed from the KF707 enzyme to those of the LB400 enzyme. Subsequent site-directed mutagenesis allowed us to determine the amino acids responsible for the degradation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.