HETEROLOGOUS EXPRESSION OF A GENE ENCODING BIPHENYL 2,3-DIOXYGENASE FROM BURKHOLDERIA CEPACIA IN ESCHERICHIA COLI

Biphenyl 2,3-dioxygenase (BphA) is an enzyme that participates in initiation step of the pathway of biphenyl degradation in bacteria. Biphenyl is an aromatic hydrocarbon including two benzene rings that causes a serious environmental pollution. This report presents the preliminary results on the cloning and expression of BphA gene of B. cepacia strains DF2 and DF4 which were isolated from dioxin contaminated soil in Vietnam. The coding DNA sequences of BphA genes are 897 bp long and 99% identical. Recombinant BphA enzyme (33 kDa) has strongly expressed in E. coli M15 after induction of 0.5 mM IPTG for 4 h at 37oC.