Biotechnology Letters, Vol.31, No.9, 1427-1431, 2009
Tricistronic overexpression of cytochrome P450 (cam) , putidaredoxin, and putidaredoxin reductase provides a useful cell-based catalytic system
The catalytic turnover of cytochrome P450 (cam) from Pseudomonas putida requires two auxiliary reduction partners, putidaredoxin (Pd) and putidaredoxin reductase (PdR). We report the functional expression in Escherichia coli of tricistronic constructs consisting of P450 (cam) encoded by the first cistron and the auxiliary proteins, Pd and PdR by the second and the third. Transformed bacterial whole cells efficiently oxidized (1R)-(+)-camphor to 5-exo-hydroxycamphor and, interestingly, limonene to (-)-perillyl alcohol. These bioengineered E. coli cells possess a heterologous self-sufficient P450 catalytic system that may have advantages in terms of low cost and high yield for the production of fine chemicals.