Abstract
Diphenyl ether herbicides, typical globally used herbicides, threaten the agricultural environment and the sensitive crops. The microbial degradation pathways of diphenyl ether herbicides are well studied, but the nitroreduction of diphenyl ether herbicides by purified enzymes is still unclear. Here, the gene dnrA, encoding a nitroreductase DnrA responsible for the reduction of nitro to amino groups, was identified from the strain Bacillus sp. Za. DnrA had a broad substrate spectrum, and the Km values of DnrA for different diphenyl ether herbicides were 20.67 μM (fomesafen), 23.64 μM (bifenox), 26.19 μM (fluoroglycofen), 28.24 μM (acifluorfen), and 36.32 μM (lactofen). DnrA also mitigated the growth inhibition effect on cucumber and sorghum through nitroreduction. Molecular docking revealed the mechanisms of the compounds fomesafen, bifenox, fluoroglycofen, lactofen, and acifluorfen with DnrA. Fomesafen showed higher affinities and lower binding energy values for DnrA, and residue Arg244 affected the affinity between diphenyl ether herbicides and DnrA. This research provides new genetic resources and insights into the microbial remediation of diphenyl ether herbicide-contaminated environments.
Key points
• Nitroreductase DnrA transforms the nitro group of diphenyl ether herbicides.
• Nitroreductase DnrA reduces the toxicity of diphenyl ether herbicides.
• The distance between Arg244 and the herbicides is related to catalytic efficiency.
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Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (41977119), the Primary Research and Development Plan of Jiangsu Province (BE2020692), Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Fund (JASTIF, CX (22) 3136), and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (212300410215).
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YNT and LYL conceived and designed research, conducted experiments, and analyzed the data. YNT and GQZ drafted the manuscript. LYL and HZ contributed reagents and analytical tools. GQZ, HZ, and XH revised this manuscript. HZ and XH applied for funding and supervised research. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Tian, Y., Zhao, G., Cheng, M. et al. A nitroreductase DnrA catalyzes the biotransformation of several diphenyl ether herbicides in Bacillus sp. Za. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 107, 5269–5279 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12647-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12647-5