New isolated nucleic acid encoding L-pantolactone hydrolase, useful for production of optically pure D-pantolactone from its racemate

摘要

Isolated nucleic acid (I) that encodes a polypeptide (II) with L-pantolactone hydrolase activity is (i) a 810 bp sequence (1); (ii) equivalents of (i) within the degeneracy of the genetic code; (iii) derivatives of (1) that encode a polypeptide at least 50% homologous with a 269 amino acid protein (2) and having essentially the same enzymatic activity; and (iv) functional equivalents of (i)-(iii). Independent claims are also included for the following: (a) protein (IIa) encoded by (I); (b) nucleic acid construct (A) containing (A) linked to at least one regulatory sequence; (c) vector containing (I) or (A); (d) microorganisms containing (I), (A) or the vector of (c); and (e) production of D-pantolactone by treating the racemate with an L-pantolactone hydrolase.