Publications

• Structure and function of phosphonoacetaldehyde dehydrogenase: the missing link in phosphonoacetate formation.

  Agarwal V., Peck S.C., Chen J.H., Borisova S.A., Chekan J.R., van der Donk W.A., Nair S.K.

  Phosphonates (C-PO₃²⁻) have applications as antibiotics, herbicides, and detergents. In some environments, these molecules represent the predominant source of phosphorus, and several microbes have evolved dedicated enzymatic machineries for phosphonate degradation. For example, most common natural ... >> More

  Phosphonates (C-PO₃²⁻) have applications as antibiotics, herbicides, and detergents. In some environments, these molecules represent the predominant source of phosphorus, and several microbes have evolved dedicated enzymatic machineries for phosphonate degradation. For example, most common naturally occurring phosphonates can be catabolized to either phosphonoacetaldehyde or phosphonoacetate, which can then be hydrolyzed to generate inorganic phosphate and acetaldehyde or acetate, respectively. The phosphonoacetaldehyde oxidase gene (phnY) links these two hydrolytic processes and provides a previously unknown catabolic mechanism for phosphonoacetate production in the microbial metabolome. Here, we present biochemical characterization of PhnY and high-resolution crystal structures of the apo state, as well as complexes with substrate, cofactor, and product. Kinetic analysis of active site mutants demonstrates how a highly conserved aldehyde dehydrogenase active site has been modified in nature to generate activity with a phosphonate substrate. << Less

  Chem. Biol. 21:125-135(2014) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Genetic and biochemical characterization of a pathway for the degradation of 2-aminoethylphosphonate in Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021.

  Borisova S.A., Christman H.D., Metcalf M.E., Zulkepli N.A., Zhang J.K., van der Donk W.A., Metcalf W.W.

  A variety of microorganisms have the ability to use phosphonic acids as sole sources of phosphorus. Here, a novel pathway for degradation of 2-aminoethylphosphonate in the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 is proposed based on the analysis of the genome sequence. Gene deletion experiments conf ... >> More

  A variety of microorganisms have the ability to use phosphonic acids as sole sources of phosphorus. Here, a novel pathway for degradation of 2-aminoethylphosphonate in the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 is proposed based on the analysis of the genome sequence. Gene deletion experiments confirmed the involvement of the locus containing phnW, phnA, and phnY genes in the conversion of 2-aminoethylphosphonate to inorganic phosphate. Biochemical studies of the recombinant PhnY and PhnA proteins verified their roles as phosphonoacetaldehyde dehydrogenase and phosphonoacetate hydrolase, respectively. This pathway is likely not limited to S. meliloti as suggested by the presence of homologous gene clusters in other bacterial genomes. << Less

  J Biol Chem 286:22283-22290(2011) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]