Identification of a novel Baeyer‐Villiger monooxygenase from Acinetobacter radioresistens: close relationship to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis prodrug activator EtaA

This work demonstrates that Acinetobacter radioresistens strain S13 during the growth on medium supplemented with long-chain alkanes as the sole energy source expresses almA gene coding for a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) involved in alkanes subterminal oxidation. Phylogenetic analysis placed the sequence of this novel BVMO in the same clade of the prodrug activator ethionamide monooxygenase (EtaA) and it bears only a distant relation to the other known class I BVMO proteins. In silico analysis of the 3D model of the S13 BVMO generated by homology modelling also supports the similarities with EtaA by binding ethionamide to the active site. In vitro experiments carried out with the purified enzyme confirm that this novel BVMO is indeed capable of typical Baeyer-Villiger reactions as well as oxidation of the prodrug ethionamide.