New papers for August

There are two new papers, both on Rhodococcus rhodochrous NHases, out there:

• Cloning, Sequencing, and Expression of Nitrile Hydratase Gene of Mutant 4D Strain of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA 34 in E. coli, by Amit Pratush, Amit Seth and T. C. Bhalla in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, DOI: 10.1007/s12010-012-9790-9.

A clone carrying a new NHase which is cobalt centred and very similar to Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 is reported.

• Effect of growth media on cell envelope composition and nitrile hydratase stability in Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP 96253, by Trudy-Ann Tucker, Sidney A. Crow Jr. and George E. Pierce in Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, DOI: 10.1007/s10295-012-1168-z

This looks at how being in a Rhodococcus species might impact on the activity of the NHase enzyme on board.  They show that altering sugars in the growth medium affects the cell envelope components and impacts on NHase activity. I had heard this sort of thing can affect the activity of NHases in other prokaryotes too. In fact, I know someone who improved their enzyme activity by accidentally leaving something going overnight…