132125Project title: Refining oxidative enzyme systems from talented microorganisms for industrial biocatalysisClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKMicroorganisms and their cytochrome P450 (CYP) oxidative enzymes can be used for production of drug and agrochemical metabolites, or to produce new derivatives of early-stage lead compounds with improved properties. Hypha Discovery’s panel of wild-type bacteria is highly effective in producing oxidized metabolites by whole-cell biotransformation but has limitations with regard to the speed and specificity of production. This challenge will be addressed in collaboration with UCL by introducing individual CYP enzymes from the six most talented members of the panel into E. coli and S. lividans chassis as three-gene operons using ferredoxin and ferredoxin reductase genes with broad functional activity. The catalytic activities of the resulting recombinant strains will be compared with those of the wild-type parents by testing against a diverse substrate panel. Cell-free enzyme extract preparations will then be prepared and assembled into a kit that can be used for testing in client laboratories.