Microbial enzymology: Reduction of aromatic compounds at the negative end of the biological reduction scale [Mikrobielle Enzymologie: Aromatenreduktion am negativen Ende der biologischen Redoxskala]

摘要

The degradation of aromatic compounds has long been considered to require dioxygen as co-substrate for oxygenases. However, in anoxic environments anaerobic bacteria employ dearomatizing aromatic ring reductases as key enzymes for the catabolism of aromatic substrates. Surprisingly, there are three totally different biological solutions for the difficult reductive attack on the resonance stabilized aromatic ring system. The dearomatizing reductase classes use FeS-clusters, W-pterins, or flavins as cofactors in their active sites.