Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase from Clostridium acetobutylicum: A new α-fatty acid hydroxylase

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase from the anaerobic microorganism Clostridium acetobutylicum (CYP152A2) has been produced in Escherichia coli. CYP152A2 was shown to bind a broad range of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and corresponding methyl esters and demonstrated a high peroxygenase activity of up to 200 min−1 with myristic acid. Although a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide of 200 μM was necessary for high activities of the enzyme, it led to a fast enzyme inactivation within 2–4 min. This might reflect the natural function of CYP152A2 as a rapid hydrogen peroxide scavenging enzyme. In two different reconstituted systems with NADPH, CYP152A2 was able to convert 10 times more substrate, if provided with flavodoxin and flavodoxin reductase from E. coli and even 30–40 times more substrate with the CYP102A1-reductase from Bacillus megaterium. According to the clear preference for hydroxylation at α-position, CYP152A2 can be referred to as fatty acid α-hydroxylase.