Part:BBa_K1604019

RBS + β-carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase (blh gene)

This part contains a strong RBS and the blh gene. β-carotene 15,15’-dioxygenase is involved in retinal biosynthesis and catalizes the last step of the pathway by cleaving one molecule of β-carotene into two molecules of retinal.

Usage and Biology

Blh is the gene that encodes for this enzyme, and was first isolated in the uncultured bacteria SAR86 [1] . Blh is present in other organisms (i.e. cyanobacteria and algae) however enzymes involved in the cleavage of β-carotene that involve different mechanisms are found in many other organisms.

The enzyme requires oxygen for the cleavage of β-carotene, which was demonstrated to be provided by water [2] . This data are consistent with the fact the bacteria lives in deep marine waters. It requires Fe²⁺ that is coordinated by 4 His residues that are highly conserved.

We placed BBa_K1604019 under a costituve promoter and we characterized blh.

To see the characterization results check the part BBa_K1604021 and the part BBa_K1604022

Check out our Wiki UNITN-Trento iGEM 2015!

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1. Martinez A.,"Proteorhodopsin Photosystem Gene Expression Enables Photophosphorylation in a Heterologous Host" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104.13 (2007): 5590-595. Web

2. Yeong-Su Kim, Retinal production from b-carotene by b-carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase from an unculturable marine bacterium, Biotechnol Lett (2010) 32:957–961

Sequence and Features




Assembly Compatibility:

• 10
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
• 12
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
• 21
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
• 23
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
• 25
  INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]

  Illegal NgoMIV site found at 202
  
• 1000
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]