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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6694-6698, Vol. 183, No. 22
Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama
University, Kurashiki, Okayama 710-0046,1 and
General Education Course, Kobe University of Commerce, Kobe
651-2197,2 Japan
Received 16 April 2001/Accepted 24 August 2001
Several Sphingomonas spp. utilize polyethylene
glycols (PEGs) as a sole carbon and energy source, oxidative PEG
degradation being initiated by a dye-linked dehydrogenase (PEG-DH) that
oxidizes the terminal alcohol groups of the polymer chain. Purification and characterization of PEG-DH from Sphingomonas terrae
revealed that the enzyme is membrane bound. The gene encoding this
enzyme (pegA) was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in
Escherichia coli. The purified recombinant enzyme was
vulnerable to aggregation and inactivation, but this could be prevented
by addition of detergent. It is as a homodimeric protein with a subunit
molecular mass of 58.8 kDa, each subunit containing 1 noncovalently
bound flavin adenine dinucleotide but not Fe or Zn. PEG-DH recognizes a
broad variety of primary aliphatic and aromatic alcohols as substrates. Comparison with known sequences revealed that PEG-DH belongs to the
group of glucose-methanol-choline (GMC) flavoprotein
oxidoreductases and that it is a novel type of flavoprotein alcohol
dehydrogenase related (percent identical amino acids) to other, so far
uncharacterized bacterial, membrane-bound, dye-linked dehydrogenases:
alcohol dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas oleovorans
(46%); choline dehydrogenase from E. coli (40%);
L-sorbose dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter oxydans (38%); and 4-nitrobenzyl alcohol dehydrogenase from a Pseudomonas species (35%).
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.22.6694-6698.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The First Step in Polyethylene Glycol Degradation by
Sphingomonads Proceeds via a Flavoprotein Alcohol
Dehydrogenase Containing Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Research
Institute for Bioresources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, Okayama
710-0046, Japan. Phone: 81 86 434 1225. Fax: 81 86 434 1225. E-mail: fkawai{at}rib.okayama-u.ac.jp.
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