(R)-HYDROXYNITRILE LYASE FROM BRASSICACEAE

摘要

The invention relates to a polypeptide which can be isolated from plants of the Brassicaceae family and which has at least the activity of a hydroxynitrile lyase (HNL). Said hydroxynitrile lyase is the first HNL from the Brassicaceae family. Furthermore, the plants (Arabidopsis) from which said enzyme or the gene therefor are isolated are not described as cyanogens. All HNL containing plants described up to now are cyanogenic plants, so it has been assumed up to now that only cyanogenic plants contain hydroxynitrile lyases. Surprisingly it has been found that such a polypeptide (AtHNL) is (R) selective. From the amino acid sequence a theoretical molecular weight of 29,2 kDa is found for the AtHNL sub-unit. The calculated molecular mass of a protein of ca. 30 kDa can be confirmed using SDS gel electrophoresis.