申请人:Nara Institute of Science and Technology
公开号:EP1386970A1
公开(公告)日:2004-02-04
In the biosynthetic reaction system of caffeine, enzymes which catalyze these reactions respectively, and a method of composite utilization of genes encoding these enzymes, respectively are provided. A process for producing 7-methylxanthine, theobromine or caffeine which comprises methylation of xanthosine, ribose removal of 7-methylxanthosine, methylation of 7-methylxanthine, and/or methylation of theobromine ex vivo, in the presence of a combination of two or more of the enzymes a, c and d, and the cellular extract b. a: an enzyme which catalyzes methylation of xanthosine at the 7-position of the purine ring and has the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 1, b: a crude cellular extract obtained from Escherichia coli which catalyzes ribose removal of 7-methylxanthosine at the 9-position of the purine ring, c: an enzyme which catalyzes methylation of 7-methylxanthine at the 3-position of the purine ring and has the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 4, d: an enzyme which catalyzes methylation of theobromine at the 1-position of the purine ring and has the amino acid sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 7.
在咖啡因的生物合成反应系统中,分别提供了催化这些反应的酶,以及复合利用编码这些酶的基因的方法。一种生产 7-甲基黄嘌呤、可可碱或咖啡因的工艺,包括黄嘌呤核苷的甲基化、7-甲基黄嘌呤核糖的脱除、7-甲基黄嘌呤的甲基化和/或可可碱的体内甲基化,在两种或两种以上酶 a、c 和 d 以及细胞提取物 b 的组合存在下进行。a:催化嘌呤环 7 位黄嘌呤甲基化的酶,具有 SEQ ID NO: 1 所列的氨基酸序列; b:从大肠杆菌中提取的粗细胞提取物,催化嘌呤环 9 位 7-甲基黄嘌呤的核糖脱除; c.催化嘌呤环 3 位上 7-甲基黄嘌呤甲基化并具有 SEQ ID NO: 4 所列氨基酸序列的酶, d:催化嘌呤环 1 位上可可碱甲基化并具有 SEQ ID NO: 7 所列氨基酸序列的酶。