An assay based on the consumption of nitrilotriacetate (NTA) was developed to measure the activity of NTA monooxygenase (NTA-Mo) in cell extracts of "Chelatobacter" strain ATCC 29600 and to purify a functional, NTA-hydroxylating enzyme complex. The complex consisted of two components that easily dissociated during purification and upon dilution. Both components were purified to more than 95% homogeneity, and it was possible to reconstitute the functional, NTA-hydroxylating enzyme complex from pure component A (cA) and component B (cB). cB exhibited NTA-stimulated NADH oxidation but was unable to hydroxylate NTA. It had a native molecular mass of 88 kDa and contained flavin mononucleotide (FMN). cA had a native molecular mass of 99 kDa. No catalytic activity has yet been shown for cA alone. Under unfavorable conditions, NADH oxidation was partly or completely uncoupled from hydroxylation, resulting in the formation of H2O2. Optimum hydroxylating activity was found to be dependent on the molar ratio of the two components, the absolute concentration of the enzyme complex, and the presence of FMN. Uncoupling of the reaction was favored in the presence of high salt concentrations and in the presence of flavin adenine dinucleotide. The NTA-Mo complex was sensitive to sulfhydryl reagents, but inhibition was reversible by addition of excess dithiothreitol. The Km values for Mg(2+)-NTA, FMN, and NADH were determined as 0.5 mM, 1.3 microM, and 0.35 mM, respectively. Of 26 tested compounds, NTA was the only substrate for NTA-Mo.
A 6.2-kb DNA fragment containing the genes for the nitrilotriacetate (NTA) monooxygenase of Chelatobacter heintzii ATCC 29600 was cloned and characterized by DNA sequencing and expression studies. The nucleotide sequence contained three major open reading frames (ORFs). Two of the ORFs, which were oriented divergently with an intergenic region of 307 bp, could be assigned to the NTA monooxygenase components A and B. The predicted N-terminal amino acid sequences of these ORFs were identical with those determined for the purified components. We therefore named these genes ntaA (for component A of NTA monooxygenase) and ntaB (for component B). The ntaA and ntaB genes could be expressed in Escherichia coli DH5alpha, and the gene products were visualized after Western blotting (immunoblotting) and incubation with polyclonal antibodies against component A or B. By mixing overproduced NtaB from E. coli and purified component A from C. heintzii ATCC 29600, reconstitution of a functional NTA monooxygenase complex was possible. The deduced gene product of ntaA showed only significant homology to SoxA (involved in dibenzothiophene degradation) and to SnaA (involved in pristamycin synthesis); that of ntaB shared weak homologies in one domain with other NADH:flavine mononucleotide oxidoreductases. These homologies provide no conclusive answer as to the possible evolutionary origin of the NTA monooxygenase. The deduced gene product of the third ORF (ORF1) had homology in the N-terminal region with the GntR class of bacterial regulator proteins and therefore may encode a regulator protein, possibly involved in regulation of ntaA and ntaB expression.