ABSTRACT: Comamonas testosteroni TA441 degrades steroids such as testosterone via aromatization of the A ring, followed by meta-cleavage of the ring. In the DNA region upstream of the meta-cleavage enzyme gene tesB, two genes required during cholic acid degradation for the inversion of an alpha-oriented hydroxyl group on C-12 were identified. A dehydrogenase, SteA, converts 7 alpha,12 alpha-dihydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione to 7 alpha-hydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,12,17-trione, and a hydrogenase, SteB, converts the latter to 7 alpha,12 beta-dihydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione. Both enzymes are members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily. The transformation of 7 alpha,12 alpha-dihydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione to 7 alpha,12 beta-dihydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione is
