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Purification and characterization of a carbon-sulfur lyase (aryl desulfinase) from rhodococcus Sp. IGTS8 involved in desulfurization of dibenzothiophene

Conference ·
OSTI ID:538945
;  [1]
  1. Energy BioSystems Corp., The Woodlands, TX (United States)

Biocatalysts are being developed at Energy BioSystems Corporation to remove sulfur from sulfur-containing organic molecules found in fossil fuel without decreasing the carbon content of the fuel. A metabolic pathway has been discovered in the Gram positive organism Rhodococcus sp IGTS8 consisting of four enzymes which converts dibenzothiophene (DBT), a major organosulfur constituent in middle distillate, to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (HBP) and sulfite. The final enzyme in this pathway (encoded by dszB) catalyzes a reaction of which there are few examples involving the formation of sulfite from 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzene sulfuric acid to yield HBP. The desulfinase has been purified and characterized both kinetically and physically. We report on chemical modification and other enzyme mechanism studies of this protein. The reaction is presented in light of chemical precedents and the results are summarized in the form of a proposed enzyme reaction mechanism.

OSTI ID:
538945
Report Number(s):
CONF-960807--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English