Overexpression of high-molecular-mass nitrile hydratase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 in recombinant Rhodococcus cells

High-molecular-mass nitrile hydratase (H-NHase, 530 kDa) is a cobalt-containing enzyme produced by Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1. For efficient production of H-NHase in R. rhodochrous ATCC12674, several plasmids were constructed. The enzyme was produced in the recombinant Rhodococcus cells only in the presence of an upstream region (approximately 4 kb) of the H-NHase gene under the control of the promoter for the amidase-NHase gene cluster from Rhodococcus sp. N-774. Although H-NHase was produced as a soluble protein in the cells, the protein did not show NHase activity. However, when the recombinant R. rhodochrous ATCC12674 cells were cultured in the presence of amide compounds, such as crotonamide and methacrylamide, markedly high NHase activity was detected. Gel-filtration chromatography revealed that the NHases produced by the cells grown in the presence and absence of the amide compounds had a molecular mass of more than 500 kDa and 50-80 kDa respectively. These results suggest that the amide compounds are essential for subunit assembly to form an enzymatically active multimer. By the use of the recombinant expression system, NHase activity 1.7 times higher than that of the original strain, R. rhodochrous J1, was achieved.