Pseudomonas putida GJ31 contains an unusual catechol 2,3-dioxygenase that converts 3-chlorocatechol and 3-methylcatechol, which enables the organism to use both chloroaromatics and methylaromatics for growth. A 3.1-kb region of genomic DNA of strain GJ31 containing the gene for this chlorocatechol 2,3-dioxygenase (cbzE) was cloned and sequenced. The cbzE gene appeared to be plasmid localized an...

Mononuclear manganese(II) and iron(III) flavonolates were synthesized as synthetic enzyme-substrate complexes, and their oxygenation reactions as biomimetic functional models with relevance to flavonol 2,4-dioxygenases are briefly described.

Isolates able to grow on 3- or 4-hydroxybiphenyl (HB) as the sole carbon source were obtained by enrichment culture. The 3-HB degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain FH12 used an NADPH-dependent monooxygenase restricted to 3- and 3,3'-HBs to introduce an ortho-hydroxyl. The 4-HB degrader Pseudomonas sp. strain FH23 used either a mono- or dioxygenase to generate a 2,3-diphenolic substitution pattern whi...

Zn complexes of proline, lysine and arginine are efficient catalysts for the aldol addition of p-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone in aqueous medium, giving quantitative yields and enantiomeric excesses up to 56% with 5 mol% of the catalysts at room temperature.

biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic compounds widely distributed in the environment by bacteria, is a cheap and safe cleaning up method. the present study attempts to isolate and characterize dioxygenase-producing bacteria which are able to degrade phenanthrene and pyrene from refinery soils. it also aims to assess in vitro biodegradation. to do so, two contaminated soil s...

The ability of the dehydrogenase and ring cleavage dioxygenase of the naphthalene degradation pathway to transform 3,4-dihydroxylated biphenyl metabolites was investigated. 1,2-Dihydro-1, 2-dihydroxynaphthalene dehydrogenase was expressed as a histidine-tagged protein. The purified enzyme transformed 2, 3-dihydro-2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl, 3,4-dihydro-3,4-dihydroxybiphenyl, and 3,4-dihydro-3,4-dihy...

3-nitrotoluene dioxygenase (3NTDO) from Diaphorobacter sp. strain DS2 catalyses the conversion of 3-nitrotoluene (3NT) into a mixture of 3- and 4-methylcatechols with release of nitrite. We report here, X-ray crystal structures of oxygenase and ferredoxin components of 3NTDO at 2.9 Å and 2.4 Å, respectively. The residues responsible for nitrite release in 3NTDO were further probed by four singl...

Pseudomonas putida F1 and Pseudomonas sp. strain JS150 initiate toluene degradation by incorporating molecular oxygen into the aromatic nucleus to form cis-1,2-dihydroxy-3-methylcyclohexa-3,5-diene. When toluene-grown cells were incubated with 2- and 3-nitrotoluene, the major products identified were 2- and 3-nitrobenzyl alcohol, respectively. The same cells oxidized 4-nitrotoluene to 2-methyl-...