Journal of Bacteriology 2004-09-01

Characterization of the upper pathway genes for fluorene metabolism in Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63.

Hiroshi Habe, Jin-Sung Chung, Hiroyuki Kato, Yuko Ayabe, Kano Kasuga, Takako Yoshida, Hideaki Nojiri, Hisakazu Yamane, Toshio Omori

Index: J. Bacteriol. 186(17) , 5938-44, (2004)

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Abstract

Genes involved in the degradation of fluorene to phthalate were characterized in the fluorene degrader Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63. The initial attack on both fluorene and 9-fluorenone was catalyzed by DbfA to yield 9-fluorenol and 1,1a-dihydroxy-1-hydro-9-fluorenone, respectively. The FlnB protein exhibited activities against both 9-fluorenol and 1,1a-dihydroxy-1-hydro-9-fluorenone to produce 9-fluorenone and 2'-carboxy-2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl, respectively. FlnD is a heteromeric protein encoded by flnD1 and ORF16, being a member of the class III two-subunit extradiol dioxygenase. FlnE was identified as a serine hydrolase for the meta-cleavage products that yield phthalate.