title: Molecular cloning, DNA sequence, and gene expression of the oxalyl-coenzyme A decarboxylase gene, oxc, from the bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes.
abstract: Oxalic acid, a highly toxic by-product of metabolism, is catabolized by a limited number of bacterial species by an activation-decarboxylation reaction which yields formate and CO2. oxc, the gene encoding the oxalic acid-degrading enzyme oxalyl-coenzyme A decarboxylase, was cloned from the bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes. The DNA sequence revealed a single open reading frame of 1,704 bp capable of encoding a 568-amino-acid protein with a molecular weight of 60,691. The identification of a presumed promoter region and a rho-independent termination sequence indicates that this gene is not part of a polycistronic operon. A PCR fragment encoding the open reading frame, when overexpressed in Escherichia coli, produced a product which cross-reacted antigenically with native enzyme on Western blots (immunoblots), appeared to form homodimers spontaneously, and exhibited enzymatic activity similar to that of the purified native enzyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville 32610.
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lung
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Baetz
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Peck
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases; C059418:oxalyl CoA decarboxylase