Mitsubishi Rayon Company, Limited

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Fumiaki Watanabe

Ai Hara

Takanori Ambo

Aya Kitahara

Fujio Yu

Tetsuji Nakamura

Takanori Akiyama

Dai Ujihara

Miki Sakai

Eiji Sato

Takashi Akita

Toshinori Sumi

Teruta Ishimaru

Kei Murase

Takayuki Makino

Haruko Miyauchi

Osamu Maehara

Toshitaka Uragaki

Wataru Fujii

Nobuko Oogami

Atsushi Takahashi

Tadanobu Ikeda

Chiho Ito

Yu Fujio

Takeharu Morishita

Miki Wakamatsu

Yuya Takikawa

Provided is an improved nitrile hydratase with improved catalytic activity. Also provided are DNA for coding the improved nitrile hydratase, a recombinant vector that contains the DNA, a transformant that contains the recombinant vector, nitrile hydratase acquired from a culture of the transformant, and a method for producing the nitrile hydratase. Also provided is a method for producing an amide compound that uses the culture or a processed product of the culture. The improved nitrile hydratase contains an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 50 (GXXXXDXXR) in a beta subunit, and is characterized in that Xis an amino acid selected from a group comprising cysteine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, histidine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, asparagine, proline, glutamine, serine and threonine.

Nitrile hydratase

Provided is a novel improved nitrile hydratase with improved resistance to amide compounds under high temperatures. Specifically provided is a nitrile hydratase having at least one amino acid mutation selected from (a) to (d) below, in the amino acid sequence expressed in SEQ ID NO:50 (Xto Xrepresent independent arbitrarily-defined amino acid residuals). (a) Xis valine or glycine (b) Xis valine or threonine (c) Xis an amino acid selected from a group consisting of isoleucine, leucine, methionine and threonine, (d) Xis leucine.

Improving wild nitrile hydratase enables the provision of a protein which has nitrile hydratase activity and which has further improved heat resistance, amide compound resistance and high temperature accumulation properties. Use protein (A) or (B), (A) being a protein characterized by having nitrile hydratase activity and by including an amino acid sequence in which a specific amino acid residue in an amino acid sequence in wild nitrile hydratase has been substituted by another amino acid residue, and (B) being a protein characterized by having nitrile hydratase activity and by including an amino acid sequence in which one or several amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of protein (A), other than the abovementioned specific amino acid residue, is deleted, substituted and/or added.

Improving wild nitrile hydratase enables the provision of a protein which has nitrile hydratase activity and which has further improved heat resistance, amide compound resistance and high temperature accumulation properties. Use protein (A) or (B), (A) being a protein characterised by having nitrile hydratase activity and by including an amino acid sequence in which a specific amino acid residue in an amino acid sequence in wild nitrile hydratase has been substituted by another amino acid residue, and (B) being a protein characterised by having nitrile hydratase activity and by including an amino acid sequence in which one or several amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of protein (A), other than the abovementioned specific amino acid residue, is deleted, substituted and/or added.

The present invention provides an industrially useful improved halohydrin epoxidase, a method for producing the same, and a method for producing an epihalohydrin or 4-halo-3-hydroxybutyronitrile using the same. The improved halohydrin epoxidase of the present invention consists of an amino acid sequence in which a specific amino acid substitution mutation is introduced into an amino acid sequence of a wild-type halohydrin epoxidase comprising predetermined amino acid sequences I and II.

Halohydrin epoxidase

The present invention provides: a protein having an improved nitrile hydratase activity, whereby heat resistance has been improved when compared with a wild-type nitrile hydratase activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of a nitrile hydratase is modified; a gene DNA encoding the above protein; a recombinant vector having the above gene DNA; a transformant or transductant having the above recombinant vector; a nitrile hydratase collected from a culture of the above transformant or transductant, and a production method thereof; and a method for producing an amide compound.

Heat-resistant nitrile hydratase

By the present invention, there is provided a fiber having nucleic acid immobilized thereon, an alignment of fibers having nucleic acid immobilized thereon, and a slice thereof.

Carriers having biological substance

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Fumiaki Watanabe