Pentachlorophenol hydroxylase, a poorly functioning enzyme required for degradation of pentachlorophenol by Sphingobium chlorophenolicum.

ABSTRACT: Several strains of Sphingobium chlorophenolicum have been isolated from soil that was heavily contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP), a toxic pesticide introduced in the 1930s. S. chlorophenolicum appears to have assembled a poorly functioning pathway for degradation of PCP by patching enzymes recruited via two independent horizontal gene transfer events into an existing metabolic pathway. Flux through the pathway is limited by PCP hydroxylase. PCP hydroxylase is a dimeric protein that belongs to the family of flavin-dependent phenol hydroxylases. In the presence of NADPH, PCP hydroxylase converts PCP to tetrachlorobenzoquinone (TCBQ). The k(cat) for PCP (0.024 s(-1)) is very low, suggesting that the enzyme is not well evolved for turnover of this substrate. Structure-activity studies r

SUBMITTER: Hlouchova K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4251658 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature