The faeB gene encoding a second feruloyl esterase from Aspergillus niger has been cloned and characterized. It consists of an open reading frame of 1644 bp containing one intron. The gene encodes a protein of 521 amino acids that has sequence similarity to that of an Aspergillus oryzae tannase. However, the encoded enzyme, feruloyl esterase B (FAEB), does not have tannase activity. Comparison o...

The exploitation of the association between plants and microorganisms is a promising approach able to boost natural attenuation processes for soil clean-up in vast polluted areas characterized by mixed chemical contamination. We aimed to explore the selection of root-associated bacterial communities driven by different plant species spontaneously established in abandoned agricultural soils with...

The DNA region encoding biphenyl dioxygenase, the first enzyme in the biphenyl-polychlorinated biphenyl degradation pathway of Pseudomonas species strain LB400, was sequenced. Six open reading frames were identified, four of which are homologous to the components of toluene dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida F1 and have been named bphA, bphE, bphF, and bphG. From this comparison, biphenyl diox...

The electron transfer system of the biphenyl dioxygenase BphA, which is derived from Acidovorax sp. (formally Pseudomonas sp.) strain KKS102, is composed of an FAD-containing NADH-ferredoxin reductase (BphA4) and a Rieske-type [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin (BphA3). Biochemical studies have suggested that the whole electron transfer process from NADH to BphA3 comprises three consecutive elementary electro...

The transformation of 20 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) through the meta-cleavage pathway by recombinant Escherichia coli cells expressing the bphEFGBC locus from Burkholderia cepacia LB400 and the bphA genes from different sources was compared. The analysis of PCB congeners for which hydroxylation was observed but no formation of the corresponding yellow meta-cleavage product demonstrated th...