Novel Bifunctional Amidase Catalyzing the Degradation of Propanil and Aryloxyphenoxypropionate Herbicides in sp. C-1.

Propanil residues can contaminate habitats where microbial degradation is predominant. In this study, an efficient propanil-degrading strain C-1 was isolated from paddy and identified as sp. It can completely degrade 10 μg/L-150 mg/L propanil within 0.33-10 h via the hydrolysis of the amide bond, forming 3,4-dichloroaniline. A novel bifunctional amidase, PamC, was identified in strain C-1. PamC can catalyze the hydrolysis of the amide bond of propanil to produce 3,4-dichloroaniline as well as the hydrolysis of the ester bonds of aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides (APPHs, clodinafop-propargyl, cyhalofop-butyl, fenoxaprop--ethyl, fluazifop--butyl, haloxyfop--methyl, and quizalofop-ethyl) to form aryloxyphenoxypropionic acids. Molecular docking and site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that the catalytic triad Lys82-Ser157-Ser181 was the active center for PamC to hydrolyze propanil and cyhalofop-butyl. This study presents a novel bifunctional amidase with capabilities for both amide and ester bond hydrolysis and enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the degradation of propanil and APPHs.