An Efficient Approach for Cloning P450 Hydroxylase Genes from Actinomycetes

Oligonucleotide primers were designed and successfully applied to amplify DNA fragments of P450 hydroxylase genes from actinomycetes which produce a large variety of medically important metabolites. Primers were designed based on several regions of strong similarities in amino acid sequence of P450 hydroxylases from a variety of actinomycetes, primarily in the regions of an oxygen binding site and a heme ligand pocket. These primers were used to amplify DNA fragments from seven different actinomycetes species producing a variety of different compounds. The deduced amino acid sequences of the isolated fragments revealed significant similarities to known P450 hydroxylase including the product of the suaC or subC genes from Streptomyces griseolus that is capable of metabolizing a number of sulfonylurea herbicides, and to the product of the $P450_{sca2}$ from S. carbophilus that produces a specific HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. This method should help researchers in cloning the P450 hydroxylase genes involved in the biosynthesis of useful compounds.