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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Dec 1995, 4167-4171, Vol 61, No. 12
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Polymer production by Klebsiella pneumoniae 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid hydroxylase genes cloned in Escherichia coli

A Gibello, E Ferrer, J Sanz and M Martin
Departamento de Microbiologia (Patologia Animal I), Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.

The expression of Klebsiella pneumoniae hpaA and hpaH genes, which code for 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid hydroxylase in Escherichia coli K-12 derivative strains, is associated with the production of a dark brown pigment in the cultures. This pigment has been identified as a polymer which shows several of the characteristics reported for microbial melanins and results from the oxidative activity of 4- hydroxyphenylacetic acid hydroxylase on some dihydroxylated compounds to form o-quinones. A dibenzoquinone is formed from the oxidation of different mono- or dihydroxylated aromatic compounds by the enzyme prior to polymerization. We report a hydroxylase activity, other than tyrosinase, that is associated with the synthesis of a bacterial melanin.

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