title: Bench scale conversion of 3-cyanopyidine to nicotinamide using resting cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA-34.
abstract: The nitrile hydratase (NHase, EC 3.5.5.1) activity of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA-34 was explored for the conversion of 3-cyanopyridine to nicotinamide. The NHase activity (∼18 U/mg dry cell weight, dcw) was observed in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 8.0 containing 1M 3-cyanopyridine as substrate, and 0.75 mg of resting cells (dry cell weight) per ml reaction mixture at 40°C. However, 25°C was more suitable for prolonged batch reaction at high substrate (3-cyanopyridine) concentration. In a batch reaction (1 liter), 7M 3-cyanopyridine (729 g) was completely converted to nicotinamide (855 g) in 12h at 25°C using 9.0 g resting cells (dry cell weight) of R. rhodochrous PA-34.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill, Shimla, 171 005 India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Bhalla
keywords: 3-cyanopyridine; Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA-34; bioconversion; nicotinamide; nitrile hydratase (NHase)