Journal of Bacteriology, April 1999, p. 2094-2101, Vol. 181, No. 7
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Department of Biochemistry,
Received 11 December 1998/Accepted 25 January 1999
A glutathione S-transferase (GST) with activity toward
1,2-epoxy-2-methyl-3-butene (isoprene monoxide) and
cis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane was purified from the
isoprene-utilizing bacterium Rhodococcus sp. strain AD45.
The homodimeric enzyme (two subunits of 27 kDa each) catalyzed the
glutathione (GSH)-dependent ring opening of various epoxides. At 5 mM
GSH, the enzyme followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for isoprene
monoxide and cis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane, with
Vmax values of 66 and 2.4 µmol
min
1 mg of protein
1 and
Km values of 0.3 and 0.1 mM for isoprene
monoxide and cis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane, respectively.
Activities increased linearly with the GSH concentration up to 25 mM.
1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that the
product of GSH conjugation to isoprene monoxide was
1-hydroxy-2-glutathionyl-2-methyl-3-butene (HGMB). Thus, nucleophilic
attack of GSH occurred on the tertiary carbon atom of the epoxide ring.
HGMB was further converted by an NAD+-dependent
dehydrogenase, and this enzyme was also purified from isoprene-grown
cells. The homodimeric enzyme (two subunits of 25 kDa each) showed a
high activity for HGMB, whereas simple primary and secondary alcohols
were not oxidized. The enzyme catalyzed the sequential oxidation of the
alcohol function to the corresponding aldehyde and carboxylic acid and
followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with respect to NAD+ and
HGMB. The results suggest that the initial steps in isoprene metabolism
are a monooxygenase-catalyzed conversion to isoprene monoxide, a
GST-catalyzed conjugation to HGMB, and a dehydrogenase-catalyzed two-step oxidation to 2-glutathionyl-2-methyl-3-butenoic acid.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology
Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, NL-9747 AG Groningen,
The Netherlands. Phone: 31-50-3634209. Fax: 31-50-3634165. E-mail: d.b.janssen{at}chem.rug.nl.
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