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Journal of Bacteriology, January 1999, p. 55-62, Vol. 181, No. 1
Department of Bioengineering,
Received 31 July 1998/Accepted 19 October 1998
Sphingomonas paucimobilis SYK-6 is able to grow on a
wide variety of dimeric lignin compounds with guaiacyl moieties, which are converted into protocatechuate by the actions of lignin degradation enzymes in this strain. Protocatechuate is a key metabolite in the
SYK-6 degradation of lignin compounds with guaiacyl moieties, and it is
thought that it degrades to pyruvate and oxaloacetate via the
protocatechuate 4,5-cleavage pathway. In a 10.5-kb EcoRI fragment carrying the protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase gene
(ligAB) (Y. Noda, S. Nishikawa, K. Shiozuka, H. Kadokura,
H. Nakajima, K. Yoda, Y. Katayama, N. Morohoshi, T. Haraguchi, and M. Yamasaki. J. Bacteriol. 172:2704-2709, 1990), we found the
ligI gene encoding 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC)
hydrolase. PDC hydrolase is a member of this pathway and catalyzes the
interconversion between PDC and 4-carboxy-2-hydroxymuconic acid (CHM).
The ligI gene is thought to be transcribed divergently from
ligAB and consists of an 879-bp open reading frame encoding
a polypeptide with a molecular mass of 32,737 Da. The ligI
gene product (LigI), expressed in Escherichia coli, was
purified to near-homogeneity and was estimated to be a monomer (31.6 kDa) by gel filtration chromatography. The isoelectric point was
determined to be 4.9. The optimum pH for hydrolysis of PDC is 8.5, the
optimum pH for synthesis of PDC is 6.0 to 7.5, and the
Km values for PDC and CHM are 74 and 49 µM,
respectively. LigI activity was inhibited by the addition of thiol
reagents, suggesting that the cysteine residue is a catalytic site.
LigI is more resistant to metal ion inhibition than the PDC hydrolases
of Pseudomonas ochraceae (K. Maruyama, J. Biochem. 93:557-565, 1983) and Comamonas testosteroni (P. J. Kersten, S. Dagley, J. W. Whittaker, D. M. Arciero, and
J. D. Lipscomb, J. Bacteriol. 152:1154-1162, 1982). The
insertional inactivation of the ligI gene in S. paucimobilis SYK-6 led to the complete loss of PDC hydrolase
activity and to a growth defect on vanillic acid; it did not affect
growth on syringic acid. These results indicate that the
ligI gene is essential for the growth of SYK-6 on vanillic
acid but is not responsible for the growth of SYK-6 on syringic acid.
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Genetic and Biochemical Characterization of a
2-Pyrone-4,6-Dicarboxylic Acid Hydrolase Involved in the
Protocatechuate 4,5-Cleavage Pathway of Sphingomonas
paucimobilis SYK-6
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Bioengineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Kamitomioka, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2188, Japan. Phone: 81-258-47-9405. Fax: 81-258-47-9450. E-mail: masao{at}vos.nagaokaut.ac.jp.
Journal of Bacteriology, January 1999, p. 55-62, Vol. 181, No. 1
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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