Publications by authors named "V B Urlacher"

Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs or P450s) and ferredoxins (Fdxs) are ubiquitously distributed in all domains of life. Bacterial P450s are capable of catalyzing various oxidative reactions with two electrons usually donated by Fdxs. Particularly in , there are abundant P450s that have exhibited outstanding biosynthetic capacity of bioactive metabolites and great potential for xenobiotic metabolisms.

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Multicopper oxidases use Cu ions as cofactors to oxidize various substrates. High reduction potential at Type 1 Cu is considered as crucial for effective catalysis. Previous studies have shown that replacing the axial methionine ligand of the Type 1 Cu with leucine or phenylalanine leads to an increased reduction potential, but not always to higher enzyme activity.

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Nootkatone, a sesquiterpenoid widely used in the food and cosmetics industries, exhibits diverse biological activities and pharmaceutical prospects. Modification of nootkatone to create new derivatives with desirable activities has attracted significant attention. For this purpose, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450 or CYP) are attractive candidates due to their ability to perform regio- and stereoselective hydroxylation at allylic C-H bonds.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on developing a more cost-effective biotechnological pathway to produce (-)-podophyllotoxin, a valuable compound used in chemotherapy, using recombinant E. coli strains instead of expensive natural sources like (+)-pinoresinol.
  • Researchers created a new toolbox for CRISPR/Cas9 to integrate genes directly into the E. coli chromosome, enabling simpler and more efficient multi-gene expression compared to traditional plasmid systems.
  • Experimental results showed that plasmid-free E. coli could achieve similar product yields of pinoresinol as plasmid-based systems, supporting the viability of this new approach for producing important plant lignans.
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Glyoxal oxidases, belonging to the group of copper radical oxidases (CROs), oxidize aldehydes to carboxylic acids, while reducing O to HO. Their activity on furan derivatives like 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) makes these enzymes promising biocatalysts for the environmentally friendly synthesis of the bioplastics precursor 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). However, glyoxal oxidases suffer from inactivation, which requires the identification of suitable redox activators for efficient substrate conversion.

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