An intracellular poly[D(؊)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (PHB) depolymerase gene (phaZ) has been cloned fromRalstonia eutropha H16 by the shotgun method, sequenced, and characterized. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a 2.3-kbp DNA fragment revealed an open reading frame of 1,260 bp, encoding a protein of 419 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 47,316 Da. The crude extract of Escherichia coli containing the PHB depolymerase gene digested artificial amorphous PHB granules and released mainly oligomeric D(؊)-3-hydroxybutyrate, with some monomer. The gene product did not hydrolyze crystalline PHB or freeze-dried artificial amorphous PHB granules. The deduced amino acid sequence lacked sequence corresponding to a classical lipase box, Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly. The gene product was expressed in R. eutropha cells concomitant with the synthesis of PHB and localized in PHB granules. Although a mutant of R. eutropha whose phaZ gene was disrupted showed a higher PHB content compared to the wild type in a nutrient-rich medium, it accumulated PHB as much as the wild type did in a nitrogen-free, carbon-rich medium. These results indicate that the cloned phaZ gene encodes an intracellular PHB depolymerase in R. eutropha., is a storage material produced by some bacteria in response to environmental stress. The PHB biosynthesis genes from such bacteria have been cloned in Escherichia coli and studied in detail (13,24,26). However, only a few studies on the intracellular degradation of PHB have been published. In an in vitro system consisting of native PHB granules from Bacillus megaterium and the soluble fraction from PHB-depleted cells of Rhodospirillum rubrum, the existence of a thermostable activator and a thermolabile depolymerase has been reported (16). Various chemical and physical treatments inactivate the native PHB granules. In intracellular degradation of PHB in Ralstonia eutropha, weak hydrolysis activity against [ 14 C]PHB granules independent of the harvest time of the cells was reported (5). We have detected intracellular PHB depolymerase activity in Zoogloea ramigera I-16-M (18) and R. eutropha H16 (21), using proteasetreated native PHB granules as a substrate.A few intracellular poly-3-hydroxyoctanoate (PHO) depolymerase genes have been cloned. Huisman et al. have cloned an intracellular PHO depolymerase gene from Pseudomonas oleovorans using a PHO degradation mutant that cannot degrade PHO (8). Timm and Steinbüchel have cloned a PHO depolymerase gene from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 by hybridization using information on the DNA sequence of P. oleovorans (29). In both cases, the gene products have yet to be characterized. Although many extracellular PHB depolymerase genes have been cloned (11), no intracellular PHB depolymerase gene has been cloned to date. We tried unsuccessfully to clone the intracellular PHB depolymerase gene (phaZ) in R. eutropha by Southern hybridization using an extracellular PHB depolymerase gene as a probe. Therefore, we performed shotgun gene cloning by assaying enzyme activity of clones expressed...

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An intracellular 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB)-oligomer hydrolase (PhaZ2 Reu ) of Ralstonia eutropha was purified from Escherichia coli harboring a plasmid containing phaZ2 Reu . The purified enzyme hydrolyzed linear and cyclic 3HB-oligomers. Although it did not degrade crystalline poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), the purified enzyme degraded artificial amorphous PHB at a rate similar to that of the previously identified intracellular PHB (iPHB) depolymerase (PhaZ1 Reu ). The enzyme appeared to be an endo-type hydrolase, since it actively hydrolyzed cyclic 3HB-oligomers. However, it degraded various linear 3HB-oligomers and amorphous PHB in the fashion of an exo-type hydrolase, releasing one monomer unit at a time. PhaZ2 was found to bind to PHB inclusion bodies and as a soluble enzyme to cell-free supernatant fractions in R. eutropha; in contrast, PhaZ1 bound exclusively to the inclusion bodies. When R. eutropha H16 was cultivated in a nutrient-rich medium, the transient deposition of PHB was observed: the content of PHB was maximized in the log growth phase (12 h, ca. 14% PHB of dry cell weight) and decreased to a very low level in the stationary phase (ca. 1% of dry cell weight). In each phaZ1-null mutant and phaZ2-null mutant, the PHB content in the cell increased to ca. 5% in the stationary phase. A double mutant lacking both phaZ1 and phaZ2 showed increased PHB content in the log phase (ca. 20%) and also an elevated PHB level (ca. 8%) in the stationary phase. These results indicate that PhaZ2 is a novel iPHB depolymerase, which participates in the mobilization of PHB in R. eutropha along with PhaZ1.Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a homopolymer of R(Ϫ)-3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), is a storage material produced by some bacteria under certain conditions (1). In the past few decades, the application of this biopolymer to biodegradable polymers or plastics has been studied extensively (12). In these studies, the extracellular metabolism of PHB has been clarified in many bacteria and some fungi (6, 7). However, only a few studies on the intracellular degradation of PHB have been published (13,14,17,19,20). An intracellular PHB (iPHB) depolymerase system in Rhodospirillum rubrum was first reported in 1964 and consisted of a thermostable activator and a thermolabile esterase (13). This system is still not well understood in spite of a recent reinvestigation (14). The molecular cloning of an iPHB depolymerase from Ralstonia eutropha H16 has been also reported (17). This enzyme (PhaZ1 Reu ) degraded artificial amorphous PHB granules but not crystalline PHB. A mutant lacking PhaZ1 Reu showed a higher PHB content compared to the wild-type in a nutrient-rich medium, but in this mutant the mobilization of PHB was not inhibited completely, suggesting that the cloned depolymerase gene is not the only gene responsible for the biodegradation of PHB in this bacterium (5, 17). In regard to this point, recently we found another esterase (PhaZ2 Reu ) that hydrolyzes 3HB-oligomers and cloned its gene (18). We examined the properties of the ...

An intracellular D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB)-oligomer hydrolase gene from Ralstonia eutropha (formerly Alcaligenes eutrophus) H16 was cloned, sequenced, and characterized. As a hybridization probe to screen restriction digests of chromosomal DNA, an extracellular 3HB-oligomer hydrolase gene from Ralstonia pickettii strain (formerly Pseudomonas sp. strain) A1 was used. A specific hybridization signal was obtained and a 6.5-kbp SmaI fragment was cloned in an Escherichia coli phagemid vector. The crude extract from E. coli with this plasmid showed 3HB-trimer hydrolase activity. The subcloned 3.2-kbp fragment still showed 3HB-trimer hydrolase activity in E. coli and expressed an approximately 78-kDa protein in an in vitro transcription-translation system. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the 3.2-kbp fragment showed an open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide with a deduced molecular weight of 78,510. The putative amino acid sequence showed 54% identity with that of the oligomer hydrolase from R. pickettii A1. By site-directed mutagenesis, a novel amino acid sequence (S-V-S*-N-G) containing an essential serine residue in the catalytic center of the enzyme was determined. The gene product was found in PHB-rich cells of R. eutropha by immunodetection. The expressed 3HB-oligomer hydrolase localized both in the supernatant fraction and the PHB granules of the cells.

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