Polyhalogenated compounds are often environmentally persistent and toxic to mammals. Microorganisms that metabolize these compounds can detoxify contaminated environments. Different biochemical mechanisms are used to metabolize polyhalogenated compounds, but few naturally occurring bacteria have this capability. A recombinant bacterium was constructed to metabolize polyhalogenated compounds to ...

Tryptophan is required for T lymphocyte effector functions. Its degradation is one of the mechanisms selected by tumors to resist immune destruction. Two enzymes, tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1, control tryptophan degradation through the kynurenine pathway. A third protein, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 2, was identified more recently. All three enzymes were reported...

The genes responsible for angular dioxygenation of dibenzofuran in actinomycetes were cloned by using a degenerate set of PCR primers designed by using conserved sequences of the dioxygenase alpha subunit genes. One sequence of alpha subunit genes was commonly amplified from four dibenzofuran-utilizing actinomycetes: Terrabacter sp. strains YK1 and YK3, Rhodococcus sp. strain YK2, and Microbact...

The TecA chlorobenzene dioxygenase and the TodCBA toluene dioxygenase exhibit substantial sequence similarity yet have different substrate specificities. Escherichia coli cells producing recombinant TecA enzyme dioxygenate and simultaneously eliminate a halogen substituent from 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene but show no activity toward benzene, whereas those producing TodCBA dioxygenate benzene but...

To elucidate possible reasons for the recalcitrance of 2-chlorotoluene, the metabolism of chloromethylcatechols, formed after dioxygenation and dehydrogenation by Ralstonia sp. strain PS12 tetrachlorobenzene dioxygenase and chlorobenzene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase, was monitored using chlorocatechol dioxygenases and chloromuconate cycloisomerases partly purified from Ralstonia sp. strain PS12 an...

The naphthalene dioxygenase enzyme system carries out the first step in the aerobic degradation of naphthalene by Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIB 9816-4. The crystal structure of naphthalene dioxygenase (B. Kauppi, K. Lee, E. Carredano, R. E. Parales, D. T. Gibson, H. Eklund, and S. Ramaswamy, Structure 6:571-586, 1998) indicates that aspartate 205 may provide the most direct route of electron tran...

The two-component nonheme iron dioxygenase system 2-halobenzoate 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas cepacia 2CBS catalyzes the double hydroxylation of 2-halobenzoates with concomitant release of halogenide and carbon dioxide, yielding catechol. The gene cluster encoding this enzyme, cbdABC, was localized on a 70-kbp conjugative plasmid designated pBAH1. The nucleotide sequences of cbdABC and flan...