Biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid) and identification of metabolic genes

Abstract

Biodegradation of pollutants using microbes has become an emerging technology in cleaning contaminated environments. In this work, a molecular characterisation of the orfB from the nitrophenol degradation (npd) gene cluster was achieved. The gene was cloned as the His tag fusion protein and expressed in E. coli. Theoretical pI / Mw predictions for the protein sequence were 5.47 / 42536.23 Da. SDS-PAGE analysis showed the size of the purified fusion protein, which was calculated to be 42.5 kDa. The protein was purified by NiNTA metal affinity chromatography.