Identification and characterization of phenol hydroxylase from phenol-degrading Candida tropicalis strain JH8

The gene phhY encoding phenol hydroxylase from Candida tropicalis JH8 was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene phhY contained an open reading frame of 2130 bp encoding a polypeptide of 709 amino acid residues. From its sequence analysis, it is a member of a family of flavin-containing aromatic hydroxylases and shares 41% amino acid identity with phenol hydroxylase from Trichosporon cutaneum. The recombinant phenol hydroxylase exists as a homotetramer structure with a native molecular mass of 320 kDa. Recombinant phenol hydroxylase was insensitive to pH treatment; its optimum pH was at 7.6. The optimum temperature for the enzyme was 30 °C, and its activity was rapidly lost at temperatures above 60 °C. Under the optimal conditions with phenol as substrate, the K(m) and V(max) of recombinant phenol hydroxylase were 0.21 mmol·L(-1) and 0.077 μmol·L(-1)·min(-1), respectively. This is the first paper presenting the cloning and expression in E. coli of the phenol hydroxylase gene from C. tropicalis and the characterization of the recombinant phenol hydroxylase.