Changing the electron donor improves azoreductase dye degrading activity at neutral pH

The oxygen-insensitive azoreductase AzoRo originating from Rhodococcus opacus 1CP was found to be most active at low pH (ca. 4) and high temperature (ca. 50 °C). AzoRo is not an efficient biocatalyst when used at low pH due to stability problems. To overcome this issue, we discovered that AzoRo accepts an alternative electron donor, 1-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (BNAH), which allows fast turnover at neutral pH. In order to screen this nicotinamide coenzyme mimic as a source of electrons, AzoRo-catalysed reactions were run under neutral conditions, under which typically slow rates are observed with NADH. For the reduction of 1 azo bond by azoreductases 2 mol nicotinamide coenzyme are needed. AzoRo displayed Methyl Red (MR) reduction activities with NADH and NADPH of 5.49 ± 0.14 U mg⁻¹ and 4.96 ± 0.25 U mg⁻¹, respectively, whereas with BNAH it displayed 17.01 ± 0.74 U mg⁻¹ (following BNAH oxidation) and 7.16 ± 0.06 U mg⁻¹ (following MR reduction). Binding of BNAH to AzoRo was determined with a K_m of 18.75 ± 2.45 μM (BNAH oxidation) and 12.45 ± 0.47 μM (MR reduction). In order to show applicability of this system an upscaled reaction was performed using 78.6 μg of purified AzoRo to convert 2.96 μmol of MR (total reaction volume: 40 ml) within a 1 h reaction.