Divergence of chemical function in the alkaline phosphatase superfamily: structure and mechanism of the P-C bond cleaving enzyme phosphonoacetate hydrolase.

ABSTRACT: Phosphonates constitute a class of natural products that mimic the properties of the more common organophosphate ester metabolite yet are not readily degraded owing to the direct linkage of the phosphorus atom to the carbon atom. Phosphonate hydrolases have evolved to allow bacteria to utilize environmental phosphonates as a source of carbon and phosphorus. The work reported in this paper examines one such enzyme, phosphonoacetate hydrolase. By using a bioinformatic approach, we circumscribed the biological range of phosphonoacetate hydrolase to a select group of bacterial species from different classes of Proteobacteria. In addition, using gene context, we identified a novel 2-aminoethylphosphonate degradation pathway in which phosphonoacetate hydrolase is a participant. The X-ray structu

SUBMITTER: Kim A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102601 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature