Purification studies of alcohol dehydrogenase from Arthrobacter sp. (MPS8D3)

• Grant number: 12/20388-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2012
• End date: November 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Helgueira de Andrade
• Grantee: Thalita Siqueira da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The search for efficient methodologies to obtain enantiomerically pure alcohols has recently grown due to their importance in the synthesis of pharmaceutical and food products and agrochemicals. Biocatalysis has been used for the preparation of alcohols since no toxic residues are produced, besides high substrate selectivity presented by several enzymes. Due to the wide biodiversity of microorganisms, we choose to study the bacteria Arthrobacter sp. (MPS8D3) as a source of alcohol dehydrogenase. Arthrobacter sp. (MPS8D3) is a psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from a sediment sample collected in the peninsula of Antartica. The psychrotrophic bacteria have a specific characteristic, they have a high growth rate and activity between 20ºC - 40ºC. In view of the interesting features, we decided to purify alcohol dehydrogenase from this bacteria and evaluate its activity in the enantioselective oxidation reaction of chiral secondary alcohols.(AU)