A new 4-nitrophenol 2-hydroxylase from a Nocardia sp.

A new enzyme which can hydroxylate 4-nitrophenol to 4-nitrocatechol has been isolated from a Nocardia sp. It is an inducible enzyme found in the 105,000xg supernatant. It requires molecular oxygen, reduced pyridine nucleotide, and flavin adenine dinucleotide for its activity. Preliminary characterization of this enzyme is reported in this communication.