Characterization of 2-nitrophenol uptake system of Pseudomonas putida B2

Uptake of substituted nitrophenols from the bulk solution into the cytoplasm limited reaction rates by Pseudomonas putida B2. Initial enzymatic conversion of 2-nitrophenol (ONP) to catechol is by an intracellular soluble enzyme, nitrophenol oxygenase [Zeyer J and Kearney PC. 1984. J Agric Food Chem 32: 238–242]. Addition of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) to cell suspensions led to a decrease in specific reaction rates for ONP, dependent on the ratio of NEM to cellular protein. Maximal NEM inhibition resulted in an 80–90% decrease in the ONP reaction rate which could not be reversed following dilution. Cell-free enzyme extract isolated from NEM-inactivated cells demonstrated less than 20% loss of the specific ONP reaction rates. NEM apparently acted by inhibiting a protein which facilitated uptake of nitrophenol into the cytoplasm, prior to the first catabolic enzyme. Both intact organisms and protoplasts exhibited the same 80–90% decrease in reaction rate which established that NEM inhibition was localized in the plasma membrane. NEM elicited variable effects on reaction rates for a series of ring substituted 2-nitrophenols. The data indicated that uptake of substituted 2-nitrophenols involved at least two transport systems, one sensitive to NEM inactivation and a second insensitive uptake process.