Selective hydroxylation of highly branched fatty acids and their derivatives by CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium

Highly branched fatty acids, the main components of the preen-gland waxes of the domestic goose and the Muscovy duck, and their derivatives are promising chiral precursors for the synthesis of macrolide antibiotics. The key step in the utilisation of these compounds is their regioselective hydroxylotion, which cannot be achieved in a classical chemical approach. Three P450 monooxygenoses, CYP102A1, CYP102A2 and CYP102A3, demonstrating high turnover numbers in the hydroxylation of iso and anteiso fatty acids (> 400 min(-1)), were tested for their activity towards these substrates. CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium and its A74G F87V L188Q triple mutant hydroxylate a variety of these substrates with high activity and regioselectivity. In all cases, the triple mutant showed much higher activities than the wild-type enzyme. The binding constants, determined for wild-type CYP102A1 and the triple mutant with tetromethylnonanol as substrate, were > 200 mu m and similar to 23 mu m, respectively. Data derived from binding analysis support the differences in activity found for the wild-type CYP102A1 and the triple mutant. Surprisingly, CYP102A2 and CYP102A3 from Bacillus subtilis did not show any activity. Substrate binding spectra, recorded to investigate substrate accessibility to the enzyme's active sites, revealed that the substrates either could not access the active site of the Bacillus subtilis monooxygenases, or did not come into proximity with the heme.