The amides 4-trifluoromethylnicotinamide, acrylamide,
and benzamide
are widely used in agriculture and industry, posing hazards to the
environment and animals. Immobilized bacteria are preferred in wastewater
treatment, but degradation of these amides by immobilized engineered
bacteria has not been explored. Here, engineered Pseudomonas
putida KT2440 pLSJ15-amiA was constructed by introducing
a new amidase gene expression vector into environmentally safe P. putida KT2440. P. putida KT2440 pLSJ15-amiA had high amidase activity, even at 80 °C. P. putida KT2440 pLSJ15-amiA immobilized with calcium
alginate exhibited a greater environmental tolerance than free cells.
The amides were rapidly degraded by the immobilized cells, but the
activity was inhibited by high concentrations of substrates. The substrate
inhibition model revealed that the optimum initial concentrations
of 4-trifluoromethylnicotinamide, acrylamide, and benzamide for degradation
by immobilized cells were 197.65, 350.76, and 249.40 μmol/L,
respectively. This study develops a novel and excellent immobilized
biocatalyst for remediation of wastewater containing hazardous amides.