Cloning and expression of the N,N-dimethylformamidase gene from Alcaligenes sp. strain KUFA-1

N,N-Dimethylformamidase (DMFase) from Alcaligenes sp. strain KUFA-1, a bacterium that can grow on N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as the sole carbon and nitrogen source, catalyzes the first step of the DMF degradation. The DMFase gene dmfA1A2 was cloned in Escherichia coli, and its nucleotides were sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of the enzyme consisted of two alpha- and two beta-subunits with 132 and 762 amino acids, respectively, and had little similarity to sequences in protein databases, including various amidases. The protein may be a new kind of amidase. DMFase activity was detected in E. coli cells transformed with an expression plasmid of the cloned DMFase gene. The properties of recombinant DMFase purified from E. coli were identical to those of Alcaligenes DMFase.