Abstract
A strain of Pseudomonas putida was isolated by selective enrichment with morphine that was capable of utilising morphine as a primary source of carbon and energy for growth. Experiments with whole cells showed that both morphine and codeine, but not thebaine, could be utilised. A novel NADP-dependent dehydrogenase, morphine dehydrogenase, was purified from crude cell extracts and was shown to be capable of oxidising morphine and codeine to morphinone and codeinone, respectively. This NADP-dependent morphine dehydrogenase was not observed in any other species of pseudomonads examined and was quite distinct from the β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase found in Pseudomonas testosteroni, which had previously been shown to have activity against morphine.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnet JA, Ingram M (1955) Techniques in the study of yeast assimilation reactions. J Appl Bacteriol 18: 131–148
Bentley KW (1954) The chemistry of the morphine alkaloids. Oxford University Press, (Clarendon), Oxford
Bradford MM, (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein, utilising the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72: 248–254
Gibson M, Soper CJ, Parfitt RT, Sewell GJ (1984) Studies on the mechanism of microbial N-demethylation of codeine by cell-free extracts of Cunninghamella bainieri. Enzyme Microb Technol 6: 471–475
Iizuka K, Okuda S, Aida K, Asai T, Tsuda K, Yamada M, Seki I (1960) Mikrobiologische Verwandlung von Thebaine in das 14-Hydroxycodeinon mittels einiger Pilze. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 8: 1056–1057
Iizuka K, Yamada M, Suzuki J, Seki I, Aida K, Okuda S, Asai T, Tsuda K (1962) Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der mikrobiologischen Umsetzung. XVI. Umwandlung von Alkaloiden in der Morphin-Reihe durch Trametes sanguinea (1). Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 10: 67–70
Kunz DA, Reddy GS, Vatvars A (1985) Identification of transformation products arising from bacterial oxidation of codeine by Streptomyces griseus. Appl Environ Microbiol 50: 831–836
Laemmli UK (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteria phage T4. Nature 227: 680–682
Liras P, Umbreit WW (1975) Transformation of morphine by resting cells and cell free systems of Arthrobacter sp. Appl Microbiol 30: 262–266
Liras P, Kasparian SS, Umbreit WW (1975) Enzymatic transformation of morphine by hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas testosteroni. Appl Microbiol 30: 650–656
Spassov G, Abraham WR, Kieslich K, Schmidhammer H, Brossi A, Snatzke G, Vlahov R (1986) Microbial transformation of 3-desoxy-dihydromorphinanes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 23: 211–214
Umans JG (1982) Determination of heroin and its metabolites by high-performance liquid chromatography. J Chromatogr 233: 213–225
Yamada M, Lizuka K, Okuda S, Asai T, Tsuda K (1962) Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der mikrobiologischen Umsetzung. XVII. Umwandlung von Alkaloiden in der Morphin-Reihe durch Trametes sanguinea (2). Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 10: 981–984
Yamada M, Iizuka K, Okuda S, Asai T, Tsuda K (1963) Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der mikrobiologischen Umsetzung. XVIII. Umwandlung von Alkaloiden in der Morphin-Reihe durch Trametes sanguinea (3). Chem. Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 11: 206–208
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bruce, N.C., Wilmot, C.J., Jordan, K.N. et al. Microbial degradation of the morphine alkaloids: identification of morphinone as an intermediate in the metabolism of morphine by Pseudomonas putida M10. Arch. Microbiol. 154, 465–470 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245229
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245229