“Thiamine enzymes” Project

LCAB project
LCAB group members

  Collaboration: Isthmus, Valorization and Applications Laboratory (Genoscope)

Thiamine enzymes:

• Use thiamine pyrophosphate as a co-factor (FIGURE: Chemical formula)
• Have therefore a linkage motif with thiamine-PP
• Calalyze a large spectrum of reactions of the ligase type (C-C, C-N, C-S, C-O), and of the lyase type.
• Are involved in numerous metabolic pathways
• Are of monophyletic origin
• Are already utilized for industrial applications

About 3500 thiamine enzymes (transketolases, acetolactate synthases, decarboxylases, etc.) have been cloned from 200 bacterial genomes and one metagenome. As a first step, these enzymes have been expressed and screened for their potential decarboxylase activity on a panel of over twenty keto-acids. Over one hundred candidates which could decarboxylate at least one of these substrates, even marginally, have been detected, and are in the process of being characterized individually.