title: Identification of novel phytase genes from an agricultural soil-derived metagenome.
abstract: Environmental microorganisms are emerging as an important source of new enzymes for wide-scale industrial application. In this study, novel phytase genes were identified from a soil microbial community. For this, a function-based screening approach was utilized for the identification of phytase activity in a metagenomic library derived from an agricultural soil. Two novel phytases were identified. Interestingly, one of these phytases is an unusual histidine acid phosphatase family phytase, as the conserved motif of the active site of PhyX possesses an additional amino acid residue. The second phytase belongs to a new type, which is encoded by multiple open reading frames (ORFs) and is different to all phytases known to date, which are encoded by a single ORF.
authors.affiliation: BIOMERIT Research Centre, Microbiology Department, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Marlies J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mooij
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barret
authors.forename: Pardraig M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.forename: Catriona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harington
authors.forename: Alan D W
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.forename: Fergal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: O'Gara
mesh_terms: D010832:6-Phytase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D054892:Metagenome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D010832:6-Phytase