An enantioselective amidase from Burkholderia multivorans for the stereoselective synthesis of esfenvalerate.

Using racemic (R,S)-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methylbutyramide, an intermediate for the chiral pyrethroid insecticide Esfenvalerate, as a sole nitrogen source in a minimal medium, several strains with high enatioselectivity (≥98%) were isolated by enrichment techniques. One of the strains, LG 31-3, was identified as Burkholderia multivorans, based on physiological and morphological tests by a standardized Biolog station for carbon source utilization. A novel amidase was purified from B. mutivorans LG 31-3 and characterized. The enzyme exhibited (S)- selective amidase activity on racemic (R,S)-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methylbutyramide. Addition of the racemic amide induced the production of the enantioselective amidase. The molecular mass of the amidase on SDS-PAGE analysis was shown to be 50 kDa. The purified amidase was subjected to proteolytic digestion with a modified trypsin. The N-terminal and internal amino acid sequences of the purified amidase showed a high sequence homology with those deduced from a gene named YP_366732.1 encoding indole acetimide hydrolase from Burkholderia sp. 383.