Study of a hydrazide degrading mechanism by Miacrobacterium sp.

Microbacterium sp. strain HM58-2 was isolated from soil to grow with acylhydrazide as sole carbon source. The key enzyme to degrade the compound was identified as hydrazidase, a member of amidase family, by which 1-phenylethylidene hydrazide was converted to 4-hydroxybenzamide and acetophenone hydrazone. The expression of this enzyme is under a catabolite repression, where it is induced by the addition of substrates. Since no genome information was available for this bacterium, the shotgun genome sequence by a Illumina sequencer was performed to obtain information on the catabolite mechanism of hydrazide compounds by this bacterium. Further, the elucidation of natural substrates for hydrazidase would be desirable.