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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4359-4366, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4359-4366.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cloning of a Nitrilase Gene from the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC6803 and Heterologous Expression and Characterization of the Encoded Protein

Ute Heinemann,1 Dirk Engels,2 Sibylle Bürger,1 Christoph Kiziak,1 Ralf Mattes,2 and Andreas Stolz1*

Institut für Mikrobiologie,1 Institut für Industrielle Genetik der Universität Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany2

Received 6 February 2003/ Accepted 16 May 2003

The gene encoding a putative nitrilase was identified in the genome sequence of the photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803. The gene was amplified by PCR and cloned into an expression vector. The encoded protein was heterologously expressed in the native form and as a His-tagged protein in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant strains were shown to convert benzonitrile to benzoate. The active enzyme was purified to homogeneity and shown by gel filtration to consist probably of 10 subunits. The purified nitrilase converted various aromatic and aliphatic nitriles. The highest enzyme activity was observed with fumarodinitrile, but also some rather hydrophobic aromatic (e.g., naphthalenecarbonitrile), heterocyclic (e.g., indole-3-acetonitrile), or long-chain aliphatic (di-)nitriles (e.g., octanoic acid dinitrile) were converted with higher specific activities than benzonitrile. From aliphatic dinitriles with less than six carbon atoms only 1 mol of ammonia was released per mol of dinitrile, and thus presumably the corresponding cyanocarboxylic acids formed. The purified enzyme was active in the presence of a wide range of organic solvents and the turnover rates of dodecanoic acid nitrile and naphthalenecarbonitrile were increased in the presence of water-soluble and water-immiscible organic solvents.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Mikrobiologie, Universität Stuttgart, Allmandring 31, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany. Phone: 49-711-6855489. Fax: 49-711-6855725. E-mail: Andreas.Stolz{at}PO.Uni-Stuttgart.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4359-4366, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4359-4366.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Eisenhut, M., von Wobeser, E. A., Jonas, L., Schubert, H., Ibelings, B. W., Bauwe, H., Matthijs, H. C.P., Hagemann, M. (2007). Long-Term Response toward Inorganic Carbon Limitation in Wild Type and Glycolate Turnover Mutants of the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803. Plant Physiol. 144: 1946-1959 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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