Alteration of the substrate specificity of the angular dioxygenase carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase.

Carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase (CARDO) consists of terminal oxygenase (CARDO-O) and electron transport components. CARDO can catalyze specific oxygenation for various substrates: angular dioxygenation for carbazole and dibenzo-p-dioxin, lateral dioxygenation for anthracene, and monooxygenation for methylene carbon of fluorene and sulfide sulfur of dibenzothiophene. To elucidate the molecular mechanism determining its unique substrate specificity, 17 CARDO-O site-directed mutants at amino acid residues 1262, F275, Q282, and F329, which form the substrate-interacting wall around the iron active site by CARDO-O crystal structure, were generated and characterized. F329 replacement dramatically reduced oxygenation activity. However, several mutants produced different products from the wild-type enzyme to a large extent: 1262V and Q282Y (1-hydroxycarbazole), F275W (4-hydroxyfluorene), F275A (unidentified cis-dihydrodiol of fluoranthene),