Abstract
The biotransformation of acrylonitrile was investigated using thermophilic nitrilase produced from a new isolate Streptomyces sp. MTCC 7546 in both the free and immobilized state. Under optimal conditions, the enzyme converts nitriles to acids without the formation of amides. The whole cells of the isolate were immobilized in agar-agar and the beads so formed were evaluated for 25 cycles at 50°C. The enzyme showed a little loss of activity during reuse. Seventy-one per cent of 0.5 M acrylonitrile was converted to acid at 6 h of incubation at a very low density of immobilized cells, while 100% conversion was observed at 3 h by free cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almatawah Q A, Cramp R and Cowan D A 1999 Characterization of an inducible nitrilase from a thermophilic bacillus; Extremophiles 3 283–291
Adinarayana K, Jyothi B and Ellaiah P 2005 Production of alkaline protease with immobilized cells of B. subtilis PE-11 in various matrices by entrapment technique; AAPS PharmSCiTech. 6 391–397
Banerjee A, Kaul P and Banerjee U C 2006 Purification and characterization of an enantioselective arylacetonitrilase from Pseudomonas putida; Arch. Microbiol. 184 407–418
Brandao P F B and Bull A T 2003 Nitrile hydrolyzing activities of deep-sea and terrestrial mycolate actinomycetes; Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 84 89–98
Bunch A W 1998 Biotransformation of nitriles by rhodococci; Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 74 89–97
Cowan D, Cramp R, Pereira R, Graham D and Almatawah Q 1998 Biochemistry and biotechnology of mesophilic and thermophilic nitrile metabolizing enzymes; Extremophiles 2 207–216
Gavagan J E, DiCosimo R, Eisenberg A, Fager S K, Folsom P W, Hann E C, Schneider K J and Fallon R D 1999 A Gram-negative bacterium producing a heat-stable nitrilase highly active on aliphatic dinitriles; Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 52 654–659
Heald S C, Brandao P F B, Hardicre R and Bull A T 2001 Physiology, biochemistry and taxonomy of deep-sea nitrile metabolizing Rhodococcus strains; Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 80 169–183
Kabaivanova L, Dobreva E, Dimitrov P and Emanuilova E 2005 Immobilization of cells with nitrilase activity from a thermophilic bacterial strain; J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 32 7–11
Kaul P, Banerjee A, Mayilraj S and Banerjee U C 2004 Screening for enantioselective nitrilase: kinetic resolution of racemic mandelonitrile to (R)-(-)- mandelic acid by new bacterial isolates; Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 15 207–211
Khandelwal A K, Nigam V K, Choudhury B, Mohan M K and Ghosh P 2007 Optimization of nitrilase production from a new thermophilic isolate; J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 82 646–651
Kobayashi M, Nagasawa T and Yamada H 1998 Regiospecific hydrolysis of dinitrile compounds by nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1; Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 29 231–233
Komeda H, Harada H, Washika S, Sakamoto T, Ueda M and Asano Y A 2004 Novel R- stereo selective amidase from Pseudomonas sp. MCI3434 acting on piperazin-2-tert- butylcarboxamide; Eur. J. Biochem. 271 1580–1590
Mauger J, Nagasawa T and Yamada H 1990 Occurrence of a novel nitrilase arylacetonitrilase, in Alcaligenes faecalis JM3; Arch. Microbiol. 155 1–6
Nagasawa T, Nakamura T and Yamada H 1990 Production of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid using Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 nitrilase; Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 34 322–324
Nagasawa T, Wieser M, Nakamura T, Iwahara H, Yoshida T and Gekko K 2000 Nitrilase of Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1; conversion into the active form by subunit association; Eur. J. Biochem. 267 138–144
Nigam V K, Kundu S and Ghosh P 2005 Single step conversion of cephalosporin-C to 7-ACA by free and immobilized cells of P. diminuta; Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 126 13–21
Piotrowski M, Schonfelder S and Weiler E W 2001 The Arabidopsis thaliana isogene NIT4 and its orthologs in tobacco encode β-cyano-L-alanine hydratase/nitrilase; J. Biol. Chem. 276 2616–2621
Raj J, Singh N, Prasad S, Seth A and Bhalla T C 2007 Bioconversion of benzonitrile to benzoic acid using free and entrapped cells of Nocardia globerula NHB-2; Acta Microbiol. Immunol. Hung. 54 79–88
Rezende R P, Dias J C T, Monteiro A S, Carraza F and Linardi V R 2003 The use of acetonitrile as the sole nitrogen and carbon source by Geotrichum sp. JR1; Braz. J. Microbiol. 34 117–120
Tauber M M, Cavaco-Paulo A, Robra K H and Gubitz G M 2000 Nitrile hydratase and amidase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous hydrolyze acrylic fibers and granular polyacrylonitriles; Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66 1634–1638
Trott S, Bauer R, Knackmuss H J and Stolz A 2001 Genetic and biochemical characterization of an enantioselective amidase from Agrobacterium tumifaciens strain d3; Microbiology 147 1815–1824
Yamamoto K, Oishi K, Fujimatsu I and Komatsu K I 1991 Production of (R)-(-)- mandelic acid from mandelonitrile by Alcaligenes faecalis ATCC 8750; Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 57 3028–3032
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nigam, V.K., Khandelwal, A.K., Gothwal, R.K. et al. Nitrilase-catalysed conversion of acrylonitrile by free and immobilized cells of Streptomyces sp.. J Biosci 34, 21–26 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-009-0005-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-009-0005-7