7.14 Nikotin
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Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie,
Hermann-Herder-Str. 7, 79104 Freiburg, Germany |
Received: 29 September 2005 Revised: 14 October 2005 Accepted: 17 October 2005 Published
online: 7 December 2005
Abstract Several bacterial species are adapted
to nicotine, the main alkaloid produced by the tobacco plant, as growth
substrate. A general outline of nicotine catabolism by these bacteria is
presented, followed by an emphasis on new insights based on molecular biology
and biochemical work obtained with the catabolic plasmid pAO1 of Arthrobacter
nicotinovorans. Its 165-kb sequence revealed the genetic structure of
nicotine catabolism and allowed the assignment of new enzyme activities to
specific gene products, which extends the known biochemical steps of this
pathway. Potential implications of the progress in our understanding of
bacterial breakdown of nicotine for biotechnological applications are
discussed.
