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A new family of carbon‐nitrogen hydrolases
Author(s) -
Bork Peer,
Koonin Eugene V.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.5560030821
Subject(s) - nitrogen , carbon fibers , chemistry , nitrogen cycle , biochemistry , environmental chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , composite number , composite material
Using computer methods for database search and multiple alignment, statistically significant sequence similarities were identified between several nitrilases with distinct substrate specificity, cyanide hydratases, aliphatic amidases, β‐alanine synthase, and a few other proteins with unknown molecular function. All these proteins appear to be involved in the reduction of organic nitrogen compounds and ammonia production. Sequence conservation over the entire length, as well as the similarity in the reactions catalyzed by the known enzymes in this family, points to a common catalytic mechanism. The new family of enzymes is characterized by several conserved motifs, one of which contains an invariant cysteine that is part of the catalytic site in nitrilases. Another highly conserved motif includes an invariant glutamic acid that might also be involved in catalysis.