(1) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA;(2) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
Abstract:
Background
Alkanes have been hypothesized to act as universal inducers of bacterial cytochrome P450 gene expression. We tested this hypothesis on an unusual P450 gene (cyp110) found on a conserved 11 kilobase episomal DNA element of unknown function found in filamentous cyanobacteria. We also monitored the binding of potential substrates to the P450 protein and explored the distribution of P450 protein in vegetative cells and nitrogen-fixing heterocysts using immuno-electron microscopy.