Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 29, 2026

Simultaneous Measurement of Superoxide/Hydrogen Peroxide and NADH Production by Flavin-containing Mitochondrial Dehydrogenases
Published on: February 24, 2018
A bifunctional enzyme from Rhodococcus erythropolis exhibiting secondary alcohol dehydrogenase-catalase activities
Enriqueta Martinez-Rojas1, Tutku Kurt, Udo Schmidt
1Research and Teaching Institute for Brewing in Berlin (VLB), Seestr. 13, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Alcohol dehydrogenases have long been recognized as potential biocatalyst for production of chiral fine and bulk chemicals. They are relevant for industry in enantiospecific production of chiral compounds. In this study, we identified and purified a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (SdcA) from Rhodococcus erythropolis oxidizing γ-lactols into γ-lactones. SdcA showed broad substrate specificity on γ-lactols; secondary aliphatic alcohols with 8 and 10 carbon atoms were also substrates and oxidized with (2S)-stereospecificity. The enzyme exhibited moderate stability with a half-life of 5 h at 40 °C and 20 days at 4 °C. Mass spectrometric identification revealed high sequence coverage of SdcA amino acid sequence to a highly conserved catalase from R. erythropolis. The corresponding encoding gene was isolated from genomic DNA and subsequently overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 DE3 cells. In addition, the recombinant SdcA was purified and characterized in order to confirm that the secondary alcohol dehydrogenase and catalase activity correspond to the same enzyme.
Related Concept Videos
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Catalytically Perfect Enzymes
Most enzymes...
Acid-Catalyzed Dehydration of Alcohols to Alkenes
Oxidation of Alcohols
The process of oxidation in a chemical reaction is observed in any of the three forms:
Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones: Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation
The carbonyl center is...
Radical Oxidation of Allylic and Benzylic Alcohols

