Mechanism of stereospecific conversion of DL-5-substituted hydantoins to the corresponding L-amino acids by Pseudomonas sp. strain NS671.

The mechanism of stereospecific conversion of DL-5-substituted hydantoins to the corresponding L-amino acids by Pseudomonas sp. strain NS671 was studied. The results indicated that the hydantoinase catalyzed the hydrolysis reaction of both D- and L-5-(2-methylthioethyl)hydantoin, and that the hydrolysis of the L-enantiomer proceeded preferentially compared with that of the D-enantiomer. On the basis of these findings, the mechanism was speculated to be as follows: DL-5-substituted hydantoins are converted exclusively to the L-forms of the corresponding N-carbamyl-amino acids by the hydantoinase in combination with hydantoin racemase. The N-carbamyl-L-amino acids are then converted to L-amino acids by N-carbamyl-L-amino acid amidohydrolase.