Field of the Invention

The invention is directed to methods for the production of 4-cyano benzoic acid, ammonium 4- cyano benzoic acid or salts thereof from terephthalonitrile using nitrilase as catalyst and compo sitions comprising 4-cyano benzoic acid.

Description of the Invention

Nitrilases are a class of enzymes that catalyse the hydration of a nitrile to yield a carboxylic acid. Over the past five decades, various nitrilase-producing organisms, including bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts, and plants were described and some of these microbial cell factories were utilized for the commercial production of carboxylic acids in industrial scale. The success of nicotinic acid and (R)-mandelic acid industrial production using nitrilase proved the great economic potential of nitrilase (Gong et al. Microbial Cell Factories 2012, 1 1 , 142-145).

4-cyanobenzoicacid is a common building block for the synthesis of different fungicides belonging to the oxadiazole benzamides class.

The selective enzymatic hydration of terephthalonitrile to produce (ammonium) 4-cyanobenzoic acid has been described in the prior art, however, the number of nitrilases catalysing this reaction is limited and often the production rate and purity of (ammonium) 4-cyanobenzoic acid is hardly sufficient for industrial applications.

Both, the enzymatic and chemical hydrolysis of terephthalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyanobenzoic acid, have already been reported in the literature. Enzymatic hydration of nitriles to produce car boxylic acids can be achieved either by a nitrilase or through a biocatalytic cascade involving a nitrile hydratase followed by an amidase.

Rhodococcus rhodochrous, Rhodococcus equi and Aspergillus niger have been used as whole cell biocatalyst through the nitrile hydratase-amidase cascade (Martinkova et al. Biotech. Lett. 1995, 1 1 , 1219-1222; Bengis-Garber et al. Tetrahedron Lett., 1988, 29, 2589-2590; Snajdrova et al. J. Mol. Cat. B: Enz. 200429 227-232). In these reports, very low concentrations of terephtha lonitrile (2-4 mM) were converted to 4-cyanobenzoic acid in high yields (70-95%). Attempts to increase the substrate concentration (25 mM) led to lower yields (62%) (Crosby J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 1994, 1 , 1679-1686). A nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous was also isolated, purified and used as a catalyst for the direct hydrolysis of the nitrile to carboxylic acid (Kobayashi et al. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 1988, 29, 231-233) in low concentration (6 mM). Recently a patent (CN 107641622, 2018) has been published claiming the use of different nitrilases (from Pantoea sp., Arabidopsis thaliana, Acidovorax facilis, Leptolyngbya sp., Brassica oleracea and Camelina sativa) to produce (ammonium) 4-cyanobenzoic acid in high concentration (100 g/L) and yield (86-95%). In this patent, the biotransformation is carried out in a mixture of phosphate buffer and DMSO (90: 10) using relatively a high concentration of enzyme.

It is also possible to selectively hydrolyse terephthalonitrile chemically using sodium hydroxide at 80 °C followed by sodium nitrite, acetic acid and acetic anhydride addition. 4-cyanobenzoic acid can be isolated in 72% yield and 95% purity (US643321 1). This invention provides nitrilases catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to (ammonium) 4- benzoic acid, especially nitrilases that are catalysing this reaction in high substrate concentration with high yield and purity.

The nitrilases of the invention catalyze the conversion of terephthalonitrile to 4-cyanobenzoic acid as the main reaction. Further hydrolysis of the second nitrile group results in terephthalic acid as an unwanted byproduct. Excessive amounts of terephthalic acid shall be avoided as terephthalic acid removal in later process steps is difficult. Reduction of the terephthalic acid content in the reaction mixture thus improves the economic viability of the process as it leads to a reduction for cost of goods and less process operations.

Therefore this invention further provides compositions having a high 4-benzoic acid and a low terephthalic acid content.

Detailed Description of the Invention

It is one aim of the invention to provide nitrilases having higher activity, preferably higher specific activity and resulting in higher product concentration in shorter time in the aqueous medium, preferably after shorter incubation time than described in the prior art.

Hence one embodiment of the invention is an isolated nitrilase capable of catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium comprising water, nitrilase and terephthalonitrile and/or (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid, wherein the concentration of (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in the aqueous medium after incubation is at least 5% or 5,5% (w/w), preferably at least 6% or 6,5%, preferably 7% or 7,5%, preferable 8% or 8,5%, preferably 9% or 9,5%, preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 1 1 %, 1 1 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% and the concentration of terephthalonitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%.

In another embodiment of the invention, the isolated nitrilase is comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of

The amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6 and 8, and

An amino acid molecule having at least 40% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6 or 8 or a functional fragment thereof, and

An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof, and

An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 40% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof, and

An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof,

wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in b., d. and e. is catalysing the reaction from tereph- thalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium and

wherein the concentration of 4-cyano benzoic acid in the aqueous medium after incubation is at least 9% or 9,5% (w/w), preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 1 1 %, 1 1 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% and the concentration of terephthalonitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%.

A further embodiment of the invention is a process for producing 4-cyano benzoic acid or salt thereof comprising the steps of

i. Providing an aqueous medium comprising water, one or more nitrilase and terephthalonitrile,

ii. Incubating the aqueous medium and

iii. Optionally isolating the 4-cyano benzoic acid or salt thereof from the reaction mixture, wherein the one or more nitrilase is capable of catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to ammonium 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium comprising water, nitrilase and terephthalonitrile and/or ammonium 4-cyano benzoic acid, wherein the concentration of 4-cyano benzoic acid in the aqueous medium after incubation is at least 5% or 5,5% (w/w), preferably at least 6% or 6,5%, preferably at least 7% or 7,5%, preferably at least 8% or 8,5%, preferably 9% or 9,5% (w/w), preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 11 %, 11 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% and the concentration of terephthalonitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%.

In one embodiment of the process of the invention the nitrilase is comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of

a. The amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6 and 8, and

b. An amino acid molecule having at least 55% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6 or 8 or a functional fragment thereof, and

c. An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof, and

d. An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 70% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof, and

e. An amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5 or 7 or a functional fragment thereof,

wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in b., d. and e. is catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to ammonium 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium comprising water, nitrilase and terephthalonitrile and/or ammonium 4-cyano benzoic acid, wherein the concentration of 4- cyano benzoic acid in the aqueous medium after incubation is at least 5% or 5,5% (w/w), preferably at Ieast6% or 6,5%, preferably at least 7% or 7,5%, preferably at least 8% or 8,5%, preferably at least 9% or 9,5% (w/w), preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 1 1 %, 1 1 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% and the concentration of terephthalonitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%.

One embodiment of the invention is a process for producing (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid comprising the steps of providing an aqueous medium comprising water or a buffer having a pH of 4 to 9, one or more nitrilases and terephthalonitrile, incubating the aqueous medium and

optionally isolating the (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid from the reaction mixture, wherein the one or more nitrilase is selected from the group consisting of

an amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 22, or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule having at least 40% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 or 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and, an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 40% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof,

wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in ii. , iv. and v. have the activity of converting tereph- thalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid and

wherein the concentration of (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in the aqueous medium after incubation is at least 5% or 5,5% (w/w), preferably at least 6% or 6,5%, preferably at least 7% or 7,5%, preferably at least 8% or 8,5%, preferably at least 9% or 9,5% (w/w), preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 1 1 %, 1 1 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% and the concentration of terephthalo- nitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%.

In table 1 examples for functional variants of the amino acid molecules of SEQ ID 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20 and 22 are listed having a certain identity to the respective SEQ ID. Further the SEQ ID of the respective nucleic acid are listed encoding the respective functional variant amino acid molecule.

Table 1

The aqueous medium may be a solution or a suspension or a solution and a suspension, wherein any of the substances comprised in said aqueous medium may be fully or partially dissolved and/ or partially or fully suspended.

The aqueous medium preferably further comprises a divalent cation, for example Mg ²⁺ , Mn ²⁺ , Ca ²⁺ , Fe ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ or Co ²⁺ . Preferably the divalent cation is Mg ²⁺ or Mn ²⁺ , most preferably, the divalent cation is Mg ²⁺ .

The divalent cation may have a concentration of 1 mM to 500mM, for example 10mM to 450mM. Preferably the concentration of the divalent cation is between 20mM and 400mM, preferably between 30mM and 300mM, more preferably between 40mM and 250mM, more preferably between 40mM and 200mM, most preferably between 40mM and 150 mM.

In a preferred embodiment of the process for producing (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid, the incubation is performed at 10°C to 50°C, preferably at 15°C to 40°C, more preferably at 20°C to 40°C, even more preferably at 24°C to 37°C, even more preferably at 28°C to 36°C, even more preferably at 29°C to 24°C, most preferably at 30°C to 33°C.

In a preferred embodiment, the incubation is performed for 30 minutes to 48 hours, preferably for 1 hour to 36 hours, more preferably for 2 hours to 24 hours, most preferably for 3 hours to 15 hours.

In a preferred embodiment of the process for producing (ammonium)4-cyano benzoic acid, the method is carried out using a batch process.

At the start of the process of the invention, the aqueous medium may comprise at least 0,05% terephthalonitrile, preferably at least 0, 1 % terephthalonitrile, more preferably at least 0,5% terephthalonitrile, most preferably at least 1 ,0% terephthalonitrile (w/w). Throughout the incubation the concentration of terephthalonitrile may be kept at a concentration of about 0,5% to 1 ,5%, preferably about 1 ,0% terephthalonitrile by continuous feeding of terephthalonitrile.

Alternatively, the concentration of terephthalonitrile in the aqueous medium may be between including 1 wt% to 30 wt% at the start of the incubation, preferably between including 5 wt% to 10 wt%, even more preferably between including 6 wt% to 9 wt%, most preferably between including 7 wt% to 8,5 wt%. The incubation time of the aqueous medium may be at least 2h, at least 5h, at least 10h or at least 12h. Preferably the incubation time is at least 18h, for example about 24h or about 30h. More preferably the incubation time is about 36h or about 42h. Most preferably, the incubation time is about 48h. Depending on the nitrilase used and the reaction rate of said nitrilase, the incubation time may also exceed 48h.

The aqueous medium may be incubated at at least 15°C, at least 20°C, at least 24°C or at least 28°C. Preferably the aqueous medium is incubated between including 27°C and 38°C. Most preferably the aqueous medium is incubated at 30°C. The aqueous medium may also be incubated at 31°C, 32°C, 33°C, 34°C, 35°C, 36°C, 37°C, 38°C, 39°C, 40°C, 41°C, 42°C, 43°C, 44°C, 45°C, 46°C, 47°C, 48°C, 49°C or 50°C.

In a preferred embodiment, the method is carried out using a batch process.

In a preferred embodiment of the process for producing (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid, an acid, for example HCI, H2SO4, H3PO4 or the like is added to the aqueous medium after incubation in order to transfer the resulting (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid to the respective acid which leads to precipitation of the acid facilitating fast and easy isolation of the product.

The nitrilase used in the process of the invention may be isolated from the organism naturally expressing said nitrilase. Alternatively, the nitrilase may be added to the aqueous medium by adding cells comprising said nitrilase or by adding a suspension comprising inactivated, for example disrupted cells. In another embodiment of the invention, the nitrilase may be produced in recombinant organisms, preferably microorganisms, expressing the nitrilase of the invention from a heterologous construct. The nitrilase so produced may be isolated from the recombinant organism and added to the aqueous medium or the nitrilase may be added by inactivating, for example disrupting the cells and adding the suspension.

The cells or suspension comprising inactivated cells may be at least partially concentrated for example by drying before being added to the aqueous medium used in the methods of the invention or to the composition of the invention.

The nitrilase may be (partly) immobilized for instance entrapped in a gel or it may be used for example as a free cell suspension. For immobilization well known standard methods can be ap plied like for example entrapment cross linkage such as glutaraldehyde-polyethyleneimine (GA- PEI) crosslinking, cross linking to a matrix and/or carrier binding etc., including variations and/or combinations of the aforementioned methods. Alternatively, the nitrilase enzyme may be extracted and for instance may be used directly in the process for preparing the ammonium salt or the acid. When using inactivated or partly inactivated cells, such cells may be inactivated by thermal or chemical treatment.

A further embodiment of the invention is an isolated nitrilase comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of an amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule having at least 40% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 or 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and, an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 40% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof,

wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in b., d. and e. is catalysing the reaction from tereph- thalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium.

A further embodiment of the invention is a recombinant construct comprising a nitrilase wherein the nitrilase is selected from the group consisting of

an amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule having at least 40% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 or 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and, an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 40% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof,

wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in ii., iv. and v. is catalysing the reaction from tereph- thalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium.

Said recombinant construct may be integrated into the genome of an organism for producing and isolating the respective nitrilase or the nitrilase may be expressed from a vector such as a plasmid or viral vector that is introduced into an organism for producing and isolating said nitrilase.

The nitrilase in the recombinant construct may be functionally linked to a heterologous promoter, a heterologous terminator or any other heterologous genetic element.

A further embodiment of the invention is a recombinant vector, such a s an expression vector or a viral vector comprising said recombinant construct.

A recombinant microorganism comprising said recombinant construct or said recombinant vector is also an embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, the recombinant microorganism is a prokaryotic cell. Suitable prokaryotic cells include Gram-positive, Gram negative and Gram-variable bacterial cells, preferably Gram negative.

Thus, microorganisms that can be used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, Gluconobacter oxydans, Gluconobacter asaii, Achromobacter delmarvae, Achromobacter vis- cosus, Achromobacter lacticum, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Agrobacterium radiobacter, Alcali- genes faecalis, Arthrobacter citreus, Arthrobacter tumescens, Arthrobacter paraffineus, Arthro- bacter hydrocarboglutamicus, Arthrobacter oxydans, Aureobacterium saperdae, Azotobacter in- dicus, Brevibacterium ammoniagenes, Brevibacterium divaricatum, Brevi bacterium lactofermen- tum, Brevibacterium flavum, Brevibacterium globosum, Brevibacterium fuscum, Brevibacterium ketoglutamicum, Brevibacterium helcolum, Brevibacterium pusillum, Brevibacterium testaceum, Brevibacterium roseum, Brevibacterium immariophilium, Brevibacterium linens, Brevibacterium protopharmiae, Corynebacterium acetophilum, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Corynebacterium callunae, Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum, Corynebacterium acetoglutamicum, Enterobacter aerogenes, Erwinia amylovora, Erwinia carotovora, Erwinia herbicola, Erwinia chrysanthemi, Fla- vobacterium peregrinum, Flavobacterium fucatum, Flavobacterium aurantinum, Flavobacterium rhenanum, Flavobacterium sewanense, Flavobacterium breve, Flavobacterium meningosepti- cum, Micrococcus sp. CCM825, Morganella morganii, Nocardia opaca, Nocardia rugosa, Piano- coccus eucinatus, Proteus rettgeri, Propionibacterium shermanii, Pseudomonas synxantha, Pseudomonas azotoformans, Pseudomonas jluorescens, Pseudomonas ovalis, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas acidovolans, Pseudomonas mucidolens, Pseudomonas testosteroni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Rhodococcus erythropolis, Rhodococcus rhodochrous, Rhodococcus sp. ATCC 15592, Rhodococcus sp. ATCC 19070, Sporosarcina ureae, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio metschnikovii, Vibrio tyrogenes, Actinomadura madurae, Actinomyces violaceochromo- genes, Kitasatosporia parulosa, Streptomyces avermitilis, Streptomyces coelicolor, Streptomyces flavelus, Streptomyces griseolus, Streptomyces lividans, Streptomyces olivaceus, Streptomyces tanashiensis, Streptomyces virginiae, Streptomyces antibioticus, Streptomyces cacaoi, Strepto myces lavendulae, Streptomyces viridochromogenes, Aeromonas salmonicida, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus thiaminolyticus, Escherichia freundii, Microbacterium ammoniaphilum, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella schottmulleri, Xanthomonas citri, Syn- echocystis sp., Synechococcus elongatus, Thermosynechococcus elongatus, Microcystis aeru ginosa, Nostoc sp., N. commune, N.sphaericum, Nostoc punctiforme , Spirulina platensis, Lyngbya majuscula, L. lagerheimii, Phormidium tenue, Anabaena sp., Leptolyngbya sp and so forth.

In some embodiments, the microorganism is a eukaryotic cell. Suitable eukaryotic cells include yeast cells, as for example Saccharomyces spec, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hansenula spec, such as Hansenula polymorpha, Schizosaccharomyces spec, such as Schizosaccharomy- ces pombe, Kluyveromyces spec, such as Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus, Yarrowia spec, such as Yarrowia lipolytica, Pichia spec, such as Pichia methanolica, Pichia stip- ites and Pichia pastoris, Zygosaccharomyces spec, such as Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Zy- gosaccharomyces bailii, Candida spec, such as Candida boidinii, Candida utilis, Candida freyschussii, Candida glabrata and Candida sonorensis, Schwanniomyces spec, such as Schwanniomyces occidentalis, Arxula spec, such as Arxula adeninivorans, Ogataea spec such as Ogataea minuta, Klebsiella spec, such as Klebsiella pneumonia. A microorganism of the genus Comamonas testosteroni, Agrobacterium rubi, Candidatus Da- dabacteria bacterium, Tepidicaulis marinus, Sphingomonas wittichii, Rhizobium spec., Synecho- coccus sp. CC9605, Tatumella morbirosei, Flavihumibacter solisilvae or Salinisphaera shabanen- sis E1 L3A expressing any of the nitrilases of the invention is another embodiment of the invention.

A further embodiment of the invention is a method for producing a nitrilase, comprising the steps of

a) providing a recombinant microorganism expressing at least one of the nitrilases of the in vention or a microorganism naturally expressing a nitrilase of the invention, and

b) cultivating said microorganism under conditions allowing for the expression of said nitrilase gene, and

c) optionally isolating the nitrilase of the invention from said microorganism.

Another embodiment of the invention is a composition comprising water, a nitrilase, terephthalo- nitrile and/or (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid wherein the nitrilase is selected from the group consisting of

an amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 22 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule having at least 40% identity to the amino acid molecule of SEQ ID NO: SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 or 22, and,

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having at least 40% identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, and

an amino acid molecule encoded by a nucleic acid molecule hybridizing under stringent conditions to a fragment of at least 250 bases complementary to SEQ ID NO 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 , 13, 15, 19 or 21 or a functional fragment thereof, wherein the amino acid molecule as defined in ii., iv. and v. is catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aque ous medium.

Amino acid A is similar to amino acids S

Amino acid D is similar to amino acids E; N

Amino acid E is similar to amino acids D; K; Q

Amino acid F is similar to amino acids W; Y

Amino acid H is similar to amino acids N; Y

Amino acid I is similar to amino acids L; M; V

Amino acid K is similar to amino acids E; Q; R Amino acid L is similar to amino acids I; M; V

Amino acid M is similar to amino acids I; L; V

Amino acid N is similar to amino acids D; H; S

Amino acid Q is similar to amino acids E; K; R ^

Amino acid R is similar to amino acids K; Q

Amino acid S is similar to amino acids A; N; T

Amino acid T is similar to amino acids S

10

Amino acid V is similar to amino acids I; L; M

Amino acid W is similar to amino acids F; Y

Amino acid Y is similar to amino acids F; H; W

Amino acid molecules and nucleic acid molecules having a certain identity to any of the se quences of SEQ ID NO 1 to 22 include nucleic acid molecules and amino acid molecules having 40%, 41 %, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51 %, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61 %, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71 %, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81 %, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or more sequence identity to any of SEQ ID NO:1 to 22.

Preferably, the nitrilase amino acid sequences having a certain identity to the nitrilases of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 20 and 22 comprise some, preferably predominantly, more preferably only conservative amino acid substitutions. Conservative substitutions are those where one amino acid is exchanged with a similar amino acid. For determination of %-similarity the following applies, which is also in accordance with the BLOSUM62 matrix, which is one of the most used amino acids similarity matrix for database searching and sequence alignments:

Conservative amino acid substitutions may occur over the full length of the sequence of a poly peptide sequence of a functional protein such as an enzyme. In one embodiment, such mutations are not pertaining the functional domains of an enzyme. In one embodiment, conservative muta tions are not pertaining the catalytic centers of an enzyme.

A functional fragment of the amino acid molecules selected from SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 20 and 22 comprises at least 100 amino acids, preferably at least 150 amino acids, more preferably at least 200 amino acids, more preferably at least 250 amino acids, most preferably at least 300 amino acids.

A further embodiment of the invention is a composition consisting of

95,0 wt% to 99,5 wt% 4-cyano benzoic acid, preferably 95,0 wt% to 99,25 wt%, preferably 95,0 wt% to 99,0 wt%, more preferably 96,0 wt% to 99,5 wt%, more preferably 97,0 wt% to 99,5 wt%, more preferably 97,25 wt% to 99,5 wt%, more preferably 97,5 wt% to 99,5 wt%, more preferably 97,75 wt% to 99,5 wt%, even more preferably 96,0 wt% to 99,25 wt%, more preferably 97,0 wt% to 99,0 wt%, more preferably 97,25 wt% to 99,0 wt%, more preferably 97,5 wt% to 98,5 wt%, even more preferably 97,75 wt% to 98,25 wt%, even more preferably 97,9 wt% to 98,1 wt%, even more preferably 97,0 wt% to 99,5 wt%, most preferably 97,3 wt% to 99,25 wt%,

0,0 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,45 wt%, more preferably 0,0 wt% to 4,0 wt%, even more preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, preferably 0,1 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,1 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,325 wt%, most preferably 0,275 wt% to 0,325 wt%,

0,2 wt% to 1 ,5 wt% chloride, preferably 0,2 wt% to 1 ,25 wt%, more preferably 0,2 wt% to 1 ,0 wt%, more preferably 0,3 wt% to 1 ,5 wt% chloride, preferably 0,3 wt% to 1 ,25 wt%, more preferably 0,3 wt% to 1 ,0 wt%,more preferably 0,25 wt% to 1 ,5 wt% chloride, preferably 0,25 wt% to 1 ,25 wt%, more preferably 0,25 wt% to 1 ,0 wt%,

up to 0,3wt% water, preferably up to 0,2wt% water, preferably up to 0, 1 wt% water, preferably up to 0,05 wt% water, preferably 0,05 wt% to 0,2 wt% water, preferably 0,075 wt% to 0,2 wt%, more preferably 0, 1 wt% to 0,2 wt%, even more preferably 0,05 wt% to 0,3 wt% water, preferably 0,075 wt% to 0,3 wt%, more preferably 0,1 wt% to 0,3 wt%,

and optionally up to 4,8 wt% other components. The other components comprise for example ammonium, phosphate, terephthalonitrile or contaminants from the fermentation process. In total, the components sum up to 100%.

A further embodiment of the invention is a composition consisting of

95,0 wt% to 97,0 wt% 4-cyano benzoic acid, preferably 95,25 wt% to 97,0 wt%, preferably 95,5 wt% to 97,0 wt%, preferably 95,75 wt% to 97,0 wt% 4-cyano benzoic acid, more preferably 95,0 wt% to 96,75 wt%, more preferably 95,0 wt% to 96,5 wt%, more preferably 95,0 wt% to 96,25 wt% 4-cyano benzoic acid, even more preferably 95,25 wt% to 96,75 wt%, more preferably 95,5 wt% to 96,5 wt%, more preferably 95,75 wt% to 96,25 wt% 4-cyano benzoic acid,

0,0 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,45 wt%, more preferably 0,0 wt% to 4,0 wt%, even more preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,0 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, preferably 0,1 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,1 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0, 1 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,2 wt% to 0,3 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,5 wt% terephtalic acid, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,45 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,4 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,35 wt%, even more preferably 0,3 wt% to 0,325 wt%, most preferably 0,275 wt% to 0,325 wt% terephtalic acid,

0,3 wt% to 1 ,5 wt% ammonium, preferably 0,35 wt% to 1 ,25 wt%, more preferably 0,4 wt% to 1 ,0 wt%, even more preferably 0,5 wt% to 0,75 wt%, even more preferably 0,55 wt% to 0,7 wt%, most preferably 0,55 wt% to 0,65 wt% ammonium, 2,0 wt% to 0,4 wt% sulfate, preferably 2,25 wt% to 0,375 wt%, more preferably 2,5 wt% to 3,5 wt%, even more preferably 2,75 wt% to 3,25 wt%, most preferably 2,9 wt% to 3,2 wt% sulfate

0,4 wt% to 1 ,0 wt% natrium, preferably 0,5 wt% to 0,9 wt%, more preferably 0,6 wt% to 0,8 wt%, even more preferably 0,65 wt% to 0,75 wt% natrium

and optionally up to 2,3 wt% other components. The other components comprise for example water, chloride, phosphate, terephthalonitrile or contaminants from the fermentation process. In total, the components sum up to 100%.

A further embodiment of the invention is a method for making an aqueous solution containing at least 5% or 5,5% (w/w), preferably at least 6% or 6,5%, preferably at least 7% or 7,5%, preferably at least 8% or 8,5%, preferably at least 9% or 9,5% (w/w), preferably at least 10%, 10,5%, 11 %, 11 ,5%, 12%, 12,5%, more preferably at least 13% or 13,5%, even more preferably at least 14% or 14,5%, most preferably at least 15% (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid and the concentration of terephthalonitrile is below 1 ,0% (w/w), preferably below 0,9%, 0,8%, 0,7%, more preferably below 0,6%, most preferably below 0,5%. And the concentration of terephtalic acid is below 0,5 wt%, preferably below 0,45 wt%, more preferably below 0,4 wt%, even more preferably below 0,35 wt% even more preferably the concentration is 0,29 wt% to 0,31 wt%, comprising the steps of

Providing an aqueous medium comprising water, one or more nitrilase and terephthalonitrile and Incubating the aqueous medium,

Wherein the nitrilase is capable of catalysing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to 4-cyano benzoic acid in an aqueous medium.

In one embodiment of the method of the invention the aqueous medium further comprises a divalent cation. The divalent cation may for example be one or more of Mg2+, Mn2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Zn2+ or Co2+.

The divalent cation may have a concentration of 1 mM to 500mM, for example 10mM to 450mM. Preferably the concentration of the divalent cation is between 20mM and 400mM, preferably be tween 30mM and 300mM, more preferably between 40mM and 250mM, more preferably between 40mM and 200mM, most preferably between 40mM and 150 mM.

In a preferred embodiment of the process for producing (ammonium) 4-cyano benzoic acid, the incubation is performed at 10°C to 50°C, preferably at 15°C to 40°C, more preferably at 20°C to 40°C, even more preferably at 24°C to 37°C, even more preferably at 28°C to 36°C, even more preferably at 29°C to 24°C, most preferably at 30°C to 33°C.

In a preferred embodiment, the incubation is performed for 30 minutes to 48 hours, preferably for 1 hour to 36 hours, more preferably for 2 hours to 24 hours, most preferably for 3 hours to 15 hours.

At the start of the method of the invention, the aqueous medium may comprise at least 0,05% terephthalonitrile, preferably at least 0, 1 % terephthalonitrile, more preferably at least 0,5% terephthalonitrile, most preferably at least 1 ,0% terephthalonitrile (w/w). Throughout the incubation the concentration of terephthalonitrile may be kept at a concentration of about 0,5% to 1 ,5%, preferably about 1 ,0% terephthalonitrile by continuous feeding of terephthalonitrile.

Alternatively, the concentration of terephthalonitrile in the aqueous medium may be between including 1 wt% to 30 wt% at the start of the incubation, preferably between including 5 wt% to 10 wt%, even more preferably between including 6 wt% to 9 wt%, most preferably between including 7 wt% to 8,5 wt%. The incubation time of the aqueous medium may be at least 2h, at least 5h, at least 10h or at least 12h. Preferably the incubation time is at least 18h, for example about 24h or about 30h. More preferably the incubation time is about 36h or about 42h. Most preferably, the incubation time is about 48h. Depending on the nitrilase used and the reaction rate of said nitrilase, the incubation time may also exceed 48h.

The aqueous medium may be incubated at at least 15°C, at least 20°C, at least 24°C or at least 28°C. Preferably the aqueous medium is incubated between including 27°C and 38°C. Most preferably the aqueous medium is incubated at 30°C. The aqueous medium may also be incubated at 31°C, 32°C, 33°C, 34°C, 35°C, 36°C, 37°C, 38°C, 39°C, 40°C, 41°C, 42°C, 43°C, 44°C, 45°C, 46°C, 47°C, 48°C, 49°C or 50°C.

In one embodiment of the method of the invention the pH-value of the aqueous medium is adjusted to below 5 by adding acid to the aqueous medium during or after incubation.

In one embodiment of the method of the invention the product is isolated by filtration or centrifugation after incubation.

In one embodiment of the method of the invention the nitrilase is produced by fermentation.

DEFINITIONS

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology or protocols. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention which will be limited only by the appended claims. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "and," and "the" include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a vector" is a reference to one or more vectors and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. The term "about" is used herein to mean approximately, roughly, around, or in the region of. When the term "about" is used in conjunction with a numerical range, it modifies that range by extending the boundaries above and below the numerical values set forth. In general, the term "about" is used herein to modify a numerical value above and below the stated value by a variance of 20 percent, preferably 10 percent up or down (higher or lower). As used herein, the word "or" means any one member of a particular list and also includes any combination of members of that list. The words "comprise," "comprising," "include," "including," and "includes" when used in this specification and in the following claims are intended to specify the presence of one or more stated features, inte gers, components, or steps, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, steps, or groups thereof. For clarity, certain terms used in the specification are defined and used as follows:

Coding region: As used herein the term "coding region" when used in reference to a structural gene refers to the nucleotide sequences which encode the amino acids found in the nascent polypeptide as a result of translation of a mRNA molecule. The coding region is bounded, in eukaryotes, on the 5'-side by the nucleotide triplet "ATG" which encodes the initiator methionine, prokaryotes also use the triplets“GTG” and“TTG” as start codon. On the 3'-side it is bounded by one of the three triplets which specify stop codons (i.e. , TAA, TAG, TGA). In addition a gene may include sequences located on both the 5'- and 3'-end of the sequences which are present on the RNA transcript. These sequences are referred to as "flanking" sequences or regions (these flank- ing sequences are located 5' or 3' to the non-translated sequences present on the mRNA tran script). The 5'-flanking region may contain regulatory sequences such as promoters and enhanc ers which control or influence the transcription of the gene. The 3'-flanking region may contain sequences which direct the termination of transcription, post-transcriptional cleavage and poly- adenylation.

Complementary: "Complementary" or "complementarity" refers to two nucleotide sequences which comprise antiparallel nucleotide sequences capable of pairing with one another (by the base-pairing rules) upon formation of hydrogen bonds between the complementary base residues in the antiparallel nucleotide sequences. For example, the sequence 5'-AGT-3' is complementary to the sequence 5'-ACT-3'. Complementarity can be "partial" or "total." "Partial" complementarity is where one or more nucleic acid bases are not matched according to the base pairing rules. "Total" or "complete" complementarity between nucleic acid molecules is where each and every nucleic acid base is matched with another base under the base pairing rules. The degree of com plementarity between nucleic acid molecule strands has significant effects on the efficiency and strength of hybridization between nucleic acid molecule strands. A "complement" of a nucleic acid sequence as used herein refers to a nucleotide sequence whose nucleic acid molecules show total complementarity to the nucleic acid molecules of the nucleic acid sequence.

Endogenous: An "endogenous" nucleotide sequence refers to a nucleotide sequence, which is present in the genome of a wild type microorganism.

Enhanced expression:“enhance” or“increase” the expression of a nucleic acid molecule in a microorganism are used equivalently herein and mean that the level of expression of a nucleic acid molecule in a microorganism is higher compared to a reference microorganism, for example a wild type. The terms "enhanced” or“increased" as used herein mean herein higher, preferably significantly higher expression of the nucleic acid molecule to be expressed. As used herein, an “enhancement” or“increase” of the level of an agent such as a protein, mRNA or RNA means that the level is increased relative to a substantially identical microorganism grown under substantially identical conditions. As used herein,“enhancement” or“increase” of the level of an agent, such as for example a preRNA, mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, expressed by the target gene and/or of the protein product encoded by it, means that the level is increased 50% or more, for example 100% or more, preferably 200% or more, more preferably 5 fold or more, even more preferably 10 fold or more, most preferably 20 fold or more for example 50 fold relative to a suitable reference microorganism. The enhancement or increase can be determined by methods with which the skilled worker is familiar. Thus, the enhancement or increase of the nucleic acid or protein quantity can be deter mined for example by an immunological detection of the protein. Moreover, techniques such as protein assay, fluorescence, Northern hybridization, densitometric measurement of nucleic acid concentration in a gel, nuclease protection assay, reverse transcription (quantitative RT-PCR), ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), Western blotting, radioimmunoassay (RIA) or other immunoassays and fluorescence-activated cell analysis (FACS) can be employed to meas ure a specific protein or RNA in a microorganism. Depending on the type of the induced protein product, its activity or the effect on the phenotype of the microorganism may also be determined. Methods for determining the protein quantity are known to the skilled worker. Examples, which may be mentioned, are: the micro-Biuret method (Goa J (1953) Scand J Clin Lab Invest 5:218- 222), the Folin-Ciocalteau method (Lowry OH et al. (1951) J Biol Chem 193:265-275) or measur ing the absorption of CBB G-250 (Bradford MM (1976) Analyt Biochem 72:248-254). Expression: "Expression" refers to the biosynthesis of a gene product, preferably to the transcrip tion and/or translation of a nucleotide sequence, for example an endogenous gene or a heterolo gous gene, in a cell. For example, in the case of a structural gene, expression involves transcrip tion of the structural gene into mRNA and - optionally - the subsequent translation of mRNA into one or more polypeptides. In other cases, expression may refer only to the transcription of the DNA harboring an RNA molecule.

Foreign: The term "foreign" refers to any nucleic acid molecule (e.g., gene sequence) which is introduced into a cell by experimental manipulations and may include sequences found in that cell as long as the introduced sequence contains some modification (e.g., a point mutation, the presence of a selectable marker gene, etc.) and is therefore different relative to the naturally- occurring sequence.

Functional fragment: The term“functional fragment” refers to any nucleic acid or amino acid se quence which comprises merely a part of the full length nucleic acid or full length amino acid sequence, respectively, but still has the same or similar activity and/or function. In one embodi ment, the fragment comprises at least 70%, at least 80 %, at least 85%, at least 90 %, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98 %, at least 99% of the original sequence. In one embodiment, the functional fragment comprises contiguous nucleic acids or amino acids com pared to the original nucleic acid or original amino acid sequence, respectively.

Functional linkage: The term "functional linkage" or "functionally linked" is equivalent to the term “operable linkage” or“operably linked” and is to be understood as meaning, for example, the sequential arrangement of a regulatory element (e.g. a promoter) with a nucleic acid sequence to be expressed and, if appropriate, further regulatory elements (such as e.g., a terminator) in such a way that each of the regulatory elements can fulfill its intended function to allow, modify, facilitate or otherwise influence expression of said nucleic acid sequence. As a synonym the wording“op erable linkage” or“operably linked” may be used. The expression may result depending on the arrangement of the nucleic acid sequences in relation to sense or antisense RNA. To this end, direct linkage in the chemical sense is not necessarily required. Genetic control sequences such as, for example, enhancer sequences, can also exert their function on the target sequence from positions which are further away, or indeed from other DNA molecules. Preferred arrangements are those in which the nucleic acid sequence to be expressed recombinantly is positioned behind the sequence acting as promoter, so that the two sequences are linked covalently to each other. In a preferred embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence to be transcribed is located behind the promoter in such a way that the transcription start is identical with the desired beginning of the chimeric RNA of the invention. Functional linkage, and an expression construct, can be generated by means of customary recombination and cloning techniques as described (e.g., Sambrook J, Fritsch EF and Maniatis T (1989); Silhavy et al. (1984) Experiments with Gene Fusions, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor (NY); Ausubel et al. (1987) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Greene Publishing Assoc and Wiley Interscience; Gelvin et al. (Eds) (1990) Plant Molecular Biology Manual; Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht, The Netherlands). How ever, further sequences, which, for example, act as a linker with specific cleavage sites for re striction enzymes, or as a signal peptide, may also be positioned between the two sequences. The insertion of sequences may also lead to the expression of fusion proteins. Preferably, the expression construct, consisting of a linkage of a regulatory region for example a promoter and nucleic acid sequence to be expressed, can exist in a vector-integrated form or can be inserted into the genome, for example by transformation. Gene: The term "gene" refers to a region operably linked to appropriate regulatory sequences capable of regulating the expression of the gene product (e.g., a polypeptide or a functional RNA) in some manner. A gene includes untranslated regulatory regions of DNA (e.g., promoters, enhancers, repressors, etc.) preceding (up-stream) and following (downstream) the coding region (open reading frame, ORF). The term "structural gene" as used herein is intended to mean a DNA sequence that is transcribed into mRNA which is then translated into a sequence of amino acids characteristic of a specific polypeptide.

Genome and genomic DNA: The terms“genome” or“genomic DNA” is referring to the heritable genetic information of a host organism. Said genomic DNA comprises the DNA of the nucleoid but also the DNA of the self-replicating plasmid.

Heterologous: The term "heterologous” with respect to a nucleic acid molecule or DNA refers to a nucleic acid molecule which is operably linked to, or is manipulated to become operably linked to, a second nucleic acid molecule to which it is not operably linked in nature, or to which it is operably linked at a different location in nature. A heterologous expression construct comprising a nucleic acid molecule and one or more regulatory nucleic acid molecule (such as a promoter or a transcription termination signal) linked thereto for example is a constructs originating by experimental manipulations in which either a) said nucleic acid molecule, or b) said regulatory nucleic acid molecule or c) both (i.e. (a) and (b)) is not located in its natural (native) genetic environment or has been modified by experimental manipulations, an example of a modification being a substitution, addition, deletion, inversion or insertion of one or more nucleotide residues. Natural genetic environment refers to the natural genomic locus in the organism of origin, or to the presence in a genomic library. In the case of a genomic library, the natural genetic environment of the sequence of the nucleic acid molecule is preferably retained, at least in part. The environment flanks the nucleic acid sequence at least at one side and has a sequence of at least 50 bp, preferably at least 500 bp, especially preferably at least 1 ,000 bp, very especially preferably at least 5,000 bp, in length. A naturally occurring expression construct - for example the naturally occurring combination of a promoter with the corresponding gene - becomes a transgenic expression construct when it is modified by non-natural, synthetic“artificial” methods such as, for example, mutagenization. Such methods have been described (US 5,565,350; WO 00/15815). For example a protein encoding nucleic acid molecule operably linked to a promoter, which is not the native promoter of this molecule, is considered to be heterologous with respect to the promoter. Prefer ably, heterologous DNA is not endogenous to or not naturally associated with the cell into which it is introduced but has been obtained from another cell or has been synthesized. Heterologous DNA also includes an endogenous DNA sequence, which contains some modification, non-natu- rally occurring, multiple copies of an endogenous DNA sequence, or a DNA sequence which is not naturally associated with another DNA sequence physically linked thereto. Generally, although not necessarily, heterologous DNA encodes RNA or proteins that are not normally produced by the cell into which it is expressed.

Hybridization: The term "hybridization" as defined herein is a process wherein substantially complementary nucleotide sequences anneal to each other. The hybridisation process can occur entirely in solution, i.e. both complementary nucleic acids are in solution. The hybridisation process can also occur with one of the complementary nucleic acids immobilised to a matrix such as magnetic beads, Sepharose beads or any other resin. The hybridisation process can furthermore occur with one of the complementary nucleic acids immobilised to a solid support such as a nitro cellulose or nylon membrane or immobilised by e.g. photolithography to, for example, a siliceous glass support (the latter known as nucleic acid arrays or microarrays or as nucleic acid chips). In order to allow hybridisation to occur, the nucleic acid molecules are generally thermally or chemically denatured to melt a double strand into two single strands and/or to remove hairpins or other secondary structures from single stranded nucleic acids.

The term“stringency” refers to the conditions under which a hybridisation takes place. The strin gency of hybridisation is influenced by conditions such as temperature, salt concentration, ionic strength and hybridisation buffer composition. Generally, low stringency conditions are selected to be about 30°C lower than the thermal melting point (T m) for the specific sequence at a defined ionic strength and pH. Medium stringency conditions are when the temperature is 20°C below Tm, and high stringency conditions are when the temperature is 10°C below Tm. High stringency hybridisation conditions are typically used for isolating hybridising sequences that have high sequence similarity to the target nucleic acid sequence. However, nucleic acids may deviate in sequence and still encode a substantially identical polypeptide, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code. Therefore, medium stringency hybridisation conditions may sometimes be needed to identify such nucleic acid molecules.

The“Tm” is the temperature under defined ionic strength and pH, at which 50% of the target sequence hybridises to a perfectly matched probe. The Tm is dependent upon the solution conditions and the base composition and length of the probe. For example, longer sequences hybridise specifically at higher temperatures. The maximum rate of hybridisation is obtained from about 16°C up to 32°C below Tm. The presence of monovalent cations in the hybridisation solution reduce the electrostatic repulsion between the two nucleic acid strands thereby promoting hybrid formation; this effect is visible for sodium concentrations of up to 0.4M (for higher concentrations, this effect may be ignored). Formamide reduces the melting temperature of DNA-DNA and DNA- RNA duplexes with 0.6 to 0.7°C for each percent formamide, and addition of 50% formamide allows hybridisation to be performed at 30 to 45°C, though the rate of hybridisation will be lowered. Base pair mismatches reduce the hybridisation rate and the thermal stability of the duplexes. On average and for large probes, the Tm decreases about 1 °C per % base mismatch. The Tm may be calculated using the following equations, depending on the types of hybrids:

DNA-DNA hybrids (Meinkoth and Wahl, Anal. Biochem., 138: 267-284, 1984):

Tm= 81 5°C + 16.6xlog[Na+]a + 0.41x%[G/Cb] - 500x[Lc]-1 - 0.61x% formamide

DNA-RNA or RNA-RNA hybrids:

Tm= 79.8 + 18.5 (log10[Na+]a) + 0.58 (%G/Cb) + 11.8 (%G/Cb)2 - 820/Lc

oligo-DNA or oligo-RNAd hybrids:

For <20 nucleotides: Tm= 2 (ln)

For 20-35 nucleotides: Tm= 22 + 1.46 (In )

a or for other monovalent cation, but only accurate in the 0.01-0.4 M range

b only accurate for %GC in the 30% to 75% range

c L = length of duplex in base pairs.

d Oligo, oligonucleotide; In, effective length of primer = 2x(no. of G/C)+(no. of A/T).

Non-specific binding may be controlled using any one of a number of known techniques such as, for example, blocking the membrane with protein containing solutions, additions of heterologous RNA, DNA, and SDS to the hybridisation buffer, and treatment with Rnase. For non-related probes, a series of hybridizations may be performed by varying one of (i) progressively lowering the annealing temperature (for example from 68°C to 42°C) or (ii) progressively lowering the formamide concentration (for example from 50% to 0%). The skilled artisan is aware of various parameters which may be altered during hybridisation and which will either maintain or change the stringency conditions.

Besides the hybridisation conditions, specificity of hybridisation typically also depends on the function of post-hybridisation washes. To remove background resulting from non-specific hybrid isation, samples are washed with dilute salt solutions. Critical factors of such washes include the ionic strength and temperature of the final wash solution: the lower the salt concentration and the higher the wash temperature, the higher the stringency of the wash. Wash conditions are typically performed at or below hybridisation stringency. A positive hybridisation gives a signal that is at least twice of that of the background. Generally, suitable stringent conditions for nucleic acid hybridisation assays or gene amplification detection procedures are as set forth above. More or less stringent conditions may also be selected. The skilled artisan is aware of various parameters which may be altered during washing and which will either maintain or change the stringency conditions.

For example, typical high stringency hybridisation conditions for DNA hybrids longer than 50 nucleotides encompass hybridisation at 65°C in 1x SSC or at 42°C in 1x SSC and 50% formamide, followed by washing at 65°C in 0.3x SSC. Examples of medium stringency hybridisation conditions for DNA hybrids longer than 50 nucleotides encompass hybridisation at 50°C in 4x SSC or at 40°C in 6x SSC and 50% formamide, followed by washing at 50°C in 2x SSC. The length of the hybrid is the anticipated length for the hybridising nucleic acid. When nucleic acids of known sequence are hybridised, the hybrid length may be determined by aligning the sequences and identifying the conserved regions described herein. 1 xSSC is 0.15M NaCI and 15mM sodium citrate; the hybridisation solution and wash solutions may additionally include 5x Denhardt's rea gent, 0.5-10% SDS, 100 pg/ml denatured, fragmented salmon sperm DNA, 0.5% sodium pyrophosphate. Another example of high stringency conditions is hybridisation at 65°C in 0.1x SSC comprising 0.1 SDS and optionally 5x Denhardt's reagent, 100 pg/ml denatured, fragmented salmon sperm DNA, 0.5% sodium pyrophosphate, followed by the washing at 65°C in 0.3x SSC.

For the purposes of defining the level of stringency, reference can be made to Sambrook et al. (2001) MolecularCloning: a laboratory manual, 3rd Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, CSH, New York or to Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. (1989 and yearly updates).

“Identity”:“Identity” when used in respect to the comparison of two or more nucleic acid or amino acid molecules means that the sequences of said molecules share a certain degree of sequence similarity, the sequences being partially identical.

Enzyme variants may be defined by their sequence identity when compared to a parent enzyme. Sequence identity usually is provided as“% sequence identity” or“% identity”. To determine the percent-identity between two amino acid sequences in a first step a pairwise sequence alignment is generated between those two sequences, wherein the two sequences are aligned over their complete length (i.e. , a pairwise global alignment). The alignment is generated with a program implementing the Needleman and Wunsch algorithm (J. Mol. Biol. (1979) 48, p. 443-453), preferably by using the program“NEEDLE” (The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite (EMBOSS)) with the programs default parameters (gapopen=10.0, gapextend=0.5 and ma- trix=EBLOSUM62). The preferred alignment for the purpose of this invention is that alignment, from which the highest sequence identity can be determined. The following example is meant to illustrate two nucleotide sequences, but the same calculations apply to protein sequences:

Seq A: AAGATACTG length: 9 bases

Seq B: GATCTGA length: 7 bases

Hence, the shorter sequence is sequence B.

Producing a pairwise global alignment which is showing both sequences over their complete lengths results in

Seq A: AAGATACTG-

I I I I I I

Seq B: —GAT-CTGA

The Ί” symbol in the alignment indicates identical residues (which means bases for DNA or amino acids for proteins). The number of identical residues is 6.

The symbol in the alignment indicates gaps. The number of gaps introduced by alignment within the Seq B is 1. The number of gaps introduced by alignment at borders of Seq B is 2, and at borders of Seq A is 1.

The alignment length showing the aligned sequences over their complete length is 10.

Producing a pairwise alignment which is showing the shorter sequence over its complete length according to the invention consequently results in:

Seq A: GATACTG-

Seq B: GAT-CTGA

Producing a pairwise alignment which is showing sequence A over its complete length according to the invention consequently results in:

Seq A: AAGATACTG

Seq B: —GAT-CTG Producing a pairwise alignment which is showing sequence B over its complete length according to the invention consequently results in:

Seq A: GATACTG-

Seq B: GAT-CTGA

The alignment length showing the shorter sequence over its complete length is 8 (one gap is present which is factored in the alignment length of the shorter sequence).

Accordingly, the alignment length showing Seq A over its complete length would be 9 (meaning Seq A is the sequence of the invention).

Accordingly, the alignment length showing Seq B over its complete length would be 8 (meaning Seq B is the sequence of the invention).

After aligning two sequences, in a second step, an identity value is determined from the alignment produced. For purposes of this description, percent identity is calculated by %-identity = (identical residues / length of the alignment region which is showing the respective sequence of this inven tion over its complete length) *100. Thus, sequence identity in relation to comparison of two amino acid sequences according to this embodiment is calculated by dividing the number of identical residues by the length of the alignment region which is showing the respective sequence of this invention over its complete length. This value is multiplied with 100 to give“%-identity”. According to the example provided above, %-identity is: for Seq A being the sequence of the invention (6 / 9) * 100 = 66.7 %; for Seq B being the sequence of the invention (6 / 8) * 100 =75%.

Isolated: The term "isolated" as used herein means that a material has been removed by the hand of man and exists apart from its original, native environment and is therefore not a product of nature. An isolated material or molecule (such as a DNA molecule or enzyme) may exist in a purified form or may exist in a non-native environment such as, for example, in a transgenic host cell. For example, a naturally occurring nucleic acid molecule or polypeptide present in a living cell is not isolated, but the same nucleic acid molecule or polypeptide, separated from some or all of the coexisting materials in the natural system, is isolated. Such nucleic acid molecules can be part of a vector and/or such nucleic acid molecules or polypeptides could be part of a compo sition, and would be isolated in that such a vector or composition is not part of its original envi ronment. Preferably, the term "isolated" when used in relation to a nucleic acid molecule, as in "an isolated nucleic acid sequence" refers to a nucleic acid sequence that is identified and sepa rated from at least one contaminant nucleic acid molecule with which it is ordinarily associated in its natural source. Isolated nucleic acid molecule is nucleic acid molecule present in a form or setting that is different from that in which it is found in nature. In contrast, non-isolated nucleic acid molecules are nucleic acid molecules such as DNA and RNA, which are found in the state they exist in nature. For example, a given DNA sequence (e.g., a gene) is found on the host cell chromosome in proximity to neighboring genes; RNA sequences, such as a specific mRNA se quence encoding a specific protein, are found in the cell as a mixture with numerous other mRNAs, which encode a multitude of proteins. However, an isolated nucleic acid sequence com prising for example SEQ ID NO: 1 includes, by way of example, such nucleic acid sequences in cells which ordinarily contain SEQ ID NO: 1 where the nucleic acid sequence is in a genomic or plasmid location different from that of natural cells, or is otherwise flanked by a different nucleic acid sequence than that found in nature. The isolated nucleic acid sequence may be present in single- or double-stranded form. When an isolated nucleic acid sequence is to be utilized to ex press a protein, the nucleic acid sequence will contain at a minimum at least a portion of the sense or coding strand (i.e., the nucleic acid sequence may be single-stranded). Alternatively, it may contain both the sense and anti-sense strands (i.e., the nucleic acid sequence may be double- stranded).

Nitrilase: The term“nitrilase” as used herein refers to an enzyme catalyzing the reaction from terephthalonitrile to 4-cyano benzoic acid and / or the reaction from terephthalonitrile to ammo nium 4-cyano benzoic acid. It also encompasses enzymes that are catalyzing additional reactions despite those mentioned before.

Non-coding: The term "non-coding" refers to sequences of nucleic acid molecules that do not encode part or all of an expressed protein. Non-coding sequences include but are not limited enhancers, promoter regions, 3' untranslated regions, and 5' untranslated regions.

Nucleic acids and nucleotides: The terms "nucleic acids" and "Nucleotides" refer to naturally oc curring or synthetic or artificial nucleic acid or nucleotides. The terms“nucleic acids” and "nucle otides” comprise deoxyribonucleotides or ribonucleotides or any nucleotide analogue and poly mers or hybrids thereof in either single- or double-stranded, sense or antisense form. Unless otherwise indicated, a particular nucleic acid sequence also implicitly encompasses conserva tively modified variants thereof (e.g., degenerate codon substitutions) and complementary se quences, as well as the sequence explicitly indicated. The term "nucleic acid" is used inter changeably herein with "gene", "cDNA, "mRNA", "oligonucleotide," and "nucleic acid molecule". Nucleotide analogues include nucleotides having modifications in the chemical structure of the base, sugar and/or phosphate, including, but not limited to, 5-position pyrimidine modifications, 8-position purine modifications, modifications at cytosine exocyclic amines, substitution of 5- bromo-uracil, and the like; and 2'-position sugar modifications, including but not limited to, sugar- modified ribonucleotides in which the 2'-OH is replaced by a group selected from H, OR, R, halo, SH, SR, NH2, NHR, NR2, or CN. Short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) also can comprise non-natural elements such as non-natural bases, e.g., ionosin and xanthine, non-natural sugars, e.g., 2'- methoxy ribose, or non-natural phosphodiester linkages, e.g., methylphosphonates, phos- phorothioates and peptides.

Nucleic acid sequence: The phrase "nucleic acid sequence" refers to a single- or double-stranded polymer of deoxyribonucleotide or ribonucleotide bases read from the 5'- to the 3'-end. It includes chromosomal DNA, self-replicating plasmids, infectious polymers of DNA or RNA and DNA or RNA that performs a primarily structural role. "Nucleic acid sequence" also refers to a consecutive list of abbreviations, letters, characters or words, which represent nucleotides. In one embodi ment, a nucleic acid can be a "probe" which is a relatively short nucleic acid, usually less than 100 nucleotides in length. Often a nucleic acid probe is from about 50 nucleotides in length to about 10 nucleotides in length. A "target region" of a nucleic acid is a portion of a nucleic acid that is identified to be of interest. A "coding region" of a nucleic acid is the portion of the nucleic acid, which is transcribed and translated in a sequence-specific manner to produce into a particular polypeptide or protein when placed under the control of appropriate regulatory sequences. The coding region is said to encode such a polypeptide or protein. Oligonucleotide: The term "oligonucleotide" refers to an oligomer or polymer of ribonucleic acid (RNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or mimetics thereof, as well as oligonucleotides having non-naturally-occurring portions which function similarly. Such modified or substituted oligonucleotides are often preferred over native forms because of desirable properties such as, for example, enhanced cellular uptake, enhanced affinity for nucleic acid target and increased stability in the presence of nucleases. An oligonucleotide preferably includes two or more nucleomonomers covalently coupled to each other by linkages (e.g., phosphodiesters) or substitute linkages.

Overhang: An "overhang" is a relatively short single-stranded nucleotide sequence on the 5'- or 3'-hydroxyl end of a double-stranded oligonucleotide molecule (also referred to as an "extension," "protruding end," or "sticky end").

Polypeptide: The terms "polypeptide", "peptide", "oligopeptide", "polypeptide", "gene product", "expression product" and "protein" are used interchangeably herein to refer to a polymer or oligomer of consecutive amino acid residues.

Promoter: The terms "promoter", or "promoter sequence" are equivalents and as used herein, refer to a DNA sequence which when operably linked to a nucleotide sequence of interest is capable of controlling the transcription of the nucleotide sequence of interest into RNA. A promoter is located 5' (i.e., upstream), proximal to the transcriptional start site of a nucleotide se quence of interest whose transcription into mRNA it controls, and provides a site for specific bind ing by RNA polymerase and other transcription factors for initiation of transcription. The promoter does not comprise coding regions or 5 ^' untranslated regions. The promoter may for example be heterologous or homologous to the respective cell. A nucleic acid molecule sequence is "heterologous to" an organism or a second nucleic acid molecule sequence if it originates from a foreign species, or, if from the same species, is modified from its original form. For example, a promoter operably linked to a heterologous coding sequence refers to a coding sequence from a species different from that from which the promoter was derived, or, if from the same species, a coding sequence which is not naturally associated with the promoter (e.g. a genetically engineered coding sequence or an allele from a different ecotype or variety). Suitable promoters can be derived from genes of the host cells where expression should occur or from pathogens for this host.

Purified: As used herein, the term "purified" refers to molecules, either nucleic or amino acid se quences that are removed from their natural environment, isolated or separated. "Substantially purified" molecules are at least 60% free, preferably at least 75% free, and more preferably at least 90% free from other components with which they are naturally associated. A purified nucleic acid sequence may be an isolated nucleic acid sequence.

Significant increase: An increase for example in enzymatic activity, gene expression, productivity or yield of a certain product, that is larger than the margin of error inherent in the measurement technique, preferably an increase by about 10% or 25% preferably by 50% or 75%, more preferably 2-fold or-5 fold or greater of the activity, expression, productivity or yield of the control enzyme or expression in the control cell, productivity or yield of the control cell, even more preferably an increase by about 10-fold or greater. Significant decrease: A decrease for example in enzymatic activity, gene expression, productivity or yield of a certain product, that is larger than the margin of error inherent in the measurement technique, preferably a decrease by at least about 5% or 10%, preferably by at least about 20% or 25%, more preferably by at least about 50% or 75%, even more preferably by at least about 80% or 85%, most preferably by at least about 90%, 95%, 97%, 98% or 99%.

Substantially complementary: In its broadest sense, the term "substantially complementary", when used herein with respect to a nucleotide sequence in relation to a reference or target nucleotide sequence, means a nucleotide sequence having a percentage of identity between the substantially complementary nucleotide sequence and the exact complementary sequence of said reference or target nucleotide sequence of at least 60%, more desirably at least 70%, more desirably at least 80% or 85%, preferably at least 90%, more preferably at least 93%, still more preferably at least 95% or 96%, yet still more preferably at least 97% or 98%, yet still more preferably at least 99% or most preferably 100% (the later being equivalent to the term“identical” in this context). Preferably identity is assessed over a length of at least 19 nucleotides, preferably at least 50 nucleotides, more preferably the entire length of the nucleic acid sequence to said reference sequence (if not specified otherwise below). Sequence comparisons are carried out using default GAP analysis with the University of Wisconsin GCG, SEQWEB application of GAP, based on the algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch (Needleman and Wunsch (1970) J Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453; as defined above). A nucleotide sequence "substantially complementary " to a reference nucleotide sequence hybridizes to the reference nucleotide sequence under low strin gency conditions, preferably medium stringency conditions, most preferably high stringency con ditions (as defined above).

Transgene: The term "transgene" as used herein refers to any nucleic acid sequence, which is introduced into the genome of a cell by experimental manipulations. A transgene may be an "endogenous DNA sequence," or a "heterologous DNA sequence" (i.e. , "foreign DNA"). The term "endogenous DNA sequence" refers to a nucleotide sequence, which is naturally found in the cell into which it is introduced so long as it does not contain some modification (e.g., a point mutation, the presence of a selectable marker gene, etc.) relative to the naturally-occurring sequence.

Transgenic: The term transgenic when referring to an organism means transformed, preferably stably transformed, with at least one recombinant nucleic acid molecule.

Vector: As used herein, the term "vector" refers to a nucleic acid molecule capable of transporting another nucleic acid molecule to which it has been linked. One type of vector is a genomic integrated vector, or "integrated vector", which can become integrated into the genomic DNA of the host cell. Another type of vector is an episomal vector, i.e., a plasmid or a nucleic acid molecule capable of extra-chromosomal replication. Vectors capable of directing the expression of genes to which they are operatively linked are referred to herein as "expression vectors". In the present specification, "plasmid" and "vector" are used interchangeably unless otherwise clear from the context.

Wild type: The term "wild type", "natural" or "natural origin" means with respect to an organism that said organism is not changed, mutated, or otherwise manipulated by man. With respect to a polypeptide or nucleic acid sequence, that the polypeptide or nucleic acid sequence is naturally occurring or available in at least one naturally occurring organism which is not changed, mutated, or otherwise manipulated by man.

A wild type of a microorganism refers to a microorganism whose genome is present in a state as before the introduction of a genetic modification of a certain gene. The genetic modification may be e.g. a deletion of a gene or a part thereof or a point mutation or the introduction of a gene.

The terms "production" or "productivity" are art-recognized and include the concentration of the fermentation product (for example, dsRNA) formed within a given time and a given fermentation volume (e.g., kg product per hour per liter). The term "efficiency of production" includes the time required for a particular level of production to be achieved (for example, how long it takes for the cell to attain a particular rate of output of a fine chemical).

The term "yield" or "product/carbon yield" is art-recognized and includes the efficiency of the conversion of the carbon source into the product (i.e. , fine chemical). This is generally written as, for example, kg product per kg carbon source. By increasing the yield or production of the compound, the quantity of recovered molecules or of useful recovered molecules of that compound in a given amount of culture over a given amount of time is increased.

The term“recombinant microorganism” includes microorganisms which have been genetically modified such that they exhibit an altered or different genotype and/or phenotype (e. g. , when the genetic modification affects coding nucleic acid sequences of the microorganism) as compared to the wild type microorganism from which it was derived. A recombinant microorganism comprises at least one recombinant nucleic acid molecule.

The term "recombinant" with respect to nucleic acid molecules refers to nucleic acid molecules produced by man using recombinant nucleic acid techniques. The term comprises nucleic acid molecules which as such do not exist in nature or do not exist in the organism from which the nucleic acid molecule is derived, but are modified, changed, mutated or otherwise manipulated by man. Preferably, a "recombinant nucleic acid molecule" is a non-naturally occurring nucleic acid molecule that differs in sequence from a naturally occurring nucleic acid molecule by at least one nucleic acid. A“recombinant nucleic acid molecules” may also comprise a“recombinant construct” which comprises, preferably operably linked, a sequence of nucleic acid molecules not naturally occurring in that order. Preferred methods for producing said recombinant nucleic acid molecules may comprise cloning techniques, directed or non-directed mutagenesis, gene synthesis or recombination techniques.

An example of such a recombinant nucleic acid molecule is a plasmid into which a heterologous DNA-sequence has been inserted or a gene or promoter which has been mutated compared to the gene or promoter from which the recombinant nucleic acid molecule derived. The mutation may be introduced by means of directed mutagenesis technologies known in the art or by random mutagenesis technologies such as chemical, UV light or x-ray mutagenesis or directed evolution technologies.

The term“directed evolution” is used synonymously with the term“metabolic evolution” herein and involves applying a selection pressure that favors the growth of mutants with the traits of interest. The selection pressure can be based on different culture conditions, ATP and growth coupled selection and redox related selection. The selection pressure can be carried out with batch fermentation with serial transferring inoculation or continuous culture with the same pressure.

The term“expression” or“gene expression” means the transcription of a specific gene(s) or specific genetic vector construct. The term“expression” or“gene expression” in particular means the transcription of gene(s) or genetic vector construct into mRNA. The process includes transcription of DNA and may include processing of the resulting RNA-product. The term“expression” or“gene expression” may also include the translation of the mRNA and therewith the synthesis of the encoded protein, i.e. protein expression.

Figures

Figure 1 shows the reaction catalyzed by the nitrilases of the invention.

Figure 2: Bioconversion of terephthalonitrile by heterologous E. coli cells expressing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq. ID 2).

EXAMPLES

Example 1

89 potential nitrilases were screened for activity of conversion terephthalonitril to 4-cyanobenzoic acid. Donor organism and SEQ ID of the amino acid sequence of 18 nitrilases active in screening and one non-functional nitrilase are listed in Table 1. The coding region of the nitrilases were optimized for expression in E. coli, these sequences synthesized and cloned in the expression vector pDHE (Stueckler et al. (2010) Tetrahedron 66(3-2)).

E. coli strains were transformed with the expression vectors, expression of the nitrilases induced and the culture harvested and tested for activity as described below.

Table 1 : Donor Organism, SEQ ID, and 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation of 18 active nitrilases.

128 mg of terephthalonitrile were weighed to a 1.5 ml. Eppendorf tube and mixed with 50 mM phosphate buffer solution at pH 7. To start the reaction, 50-100 pl_ of E. coli cell suspension containing different nitrilases were added and the mixture shaken at 37 °C. The final terephthalonitrile concentration in the reaction tube was 1 M. After 48 hours, the entire reaction mixture was diluted in DMSO. A sample of this solution was withdrawn, diluted in water and subjected to HPLC analysis. The results are reported as concentration of 4-cyanobenzoic acid present in the 1 mL reaction mixture prior to dilution with DMSO.

Example 2

1100 mL water and 100 g of terephthalonitrile were placed in a reactor.

The biocatalyst was used in the form of a concentrate cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq. ID 2) and it was added to the reactor, whereby the bioconversion started. The temperature was kept at 37°C and the reactorwas mixed by an overhead-stirrer. The mixture was stirred for 21 h and samples for the analysis of 4-cyanobenzoic acid were taken from the reactor. The time course of terephthalonitrile conversion and 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation is given in Figure 2. After the bioconversion, the reaction mixture was removed from the reactor and filtered through Celite535 to remove the heterologous E. coli cells expressing the nitrilase. Acid, in this case sulfuric acid, was added to precipitate 4-cyanobenzoic acid, which was separated from the aqueous reaction mixture by filtration. The wet product was dried until a constant weight was reached. 111.5 g 4-cyanobenzoic acid were recovered. Example 3

128 mg of terephthalonitrile were weighed to a 1.5 ml. Eppendorf tube and mixed with water or 50 mM phosphate buffer solution at pH 7. To start the reaction, 50-100 mI_ of E. coli cell suspen sion containing different nitrilases were added and the mixture shaken at 37 °C. The final tereph thalonitrile concentration in the reaction tube was 1 M. After 24 hours, the entire reaction mixture was diluted in DMSO. A sample of this solution was withdrawn, diluted in water and subjected to HPLC analysis. The results are reported as concentration of 4-cyanobenzoic acid present in the 1 ml_ reaction mixture prior to dilution with DMSO.

Table 2: 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation from the nitrilases with the sequence IDs 4 (Unknown prokaryotic organism), 8 (Candidatus Dadabacteria bacterium CSP1-2), 6 (Agrobacterium rubi), and 2 (Comamonas testosteroni) and from the six nitrilases described in CN 107641622A Ara Nit (Arabidopsis thaliana), Bras Nit (Brassica oleracea), Can Nit (Camelia sativa), Panto Nit (Pantoea sp. AS-PWVM4), Acid Nit (Acidovorax facilis 72W), Lepto Nit (Leptolyngbya sp.). Either water or an aqueous buffered solution (50mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7) was used as reaction medium. 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation is given in mM as analysed after the incubation phase and also as mM/OD600 for normalization of the produced amount to the applied heterologous E. coli biomass in each reaction.

Example 4

The effect of the addition of Mg ²⁺ ions to the reaction mixture was investigated. 128 mg of tereph thalonitrile were weighed to a 1.5 mL Eppendorf tube and mixed with water. MgSCL was added from a 1 M stock solution in water yielding different final concentrations of MgSCL in the reaction. To start the reaction, 100 pL of an E. coli cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni ( Seq ID No. 2) were added and the mixture was shaken at 1000 rpm in an Eppendorf Thermomixer at 37 °C. The final terephthalonitrile concentration in the reaction tube was 1 M. After 23 hours, the entire reaction mixture was diluted in DMSO. A sample of this solution was withdrawn, diluted in water and subjected to HPLC analysis. The results are reported as concen tration of 4-cyanobenzoic acid present in the 1 ml. reaction mixture prior to dilution with DMSO.

Table 3: 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation from the nitrilase with the sequence ID 2 (Comamonas testosteroni) when different MgS04 concentrations are used in the biocatalytic reaction.

The highest 4-cyanobenzoic acid concentration was achieved when 100 or more mM MgS04 is added to the reaction. I n these cases, complete conversion of the terephthalonitrile was observed. Example 5

The effect of the addition of Mg ²⁺ ions to the reaction mixture was investigated in combination with higher terephthalonitrile concentrations. 128 mg or 256 mg of terephthalonitrile were weighed to a 1.5 mL Eppendorf tube and mixed with water. MgSC was added from a 1 M stock solution in water yielding 100 or 200 mM MgSCu, respectively, in the reaction mixture. To start the reaction, 100 pl_ of an E. coli cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq

ID No. 2) were added and the mixture was shaken at 1000 rpm in an Eppendorf Thermomixer at 37 °C. The final terephthalonitrile concentration in the reaction tube was 1 M or 2 M, respectively. After previously defined time points, the entire reaction mixture was diluted in DMSO. Samples of this solutions were withdrawn, diluted in water and subjected to HPLC analysis. The results are reported as concentration of 4-cyanobenzoic acid present in the 1 mL reaction mixture prior to dilution with DMSO. Table 4: 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation from the nitrilase with the sequence ID 2 (Comamonas testosteroni) when different MgS04 concentrations and different terephthalonitrile concentrations are used in the biocatalytic reaction. The highest product concentration was achieved when the reaction mixture is supplemented with 200 mM MgSC and 2 M terephthalonitrile. Complete conversion of 2 M terephthalonitrile, how ever, was not achieved.

Example 6

The effect of the temperature on the reaction performance was investigated in the presence of absence of MgS04. Approximately 128 mg of terephthalonitrile were weighed to a 1.5 ml. Ep- pendorf tube and mixed with water. MgSCU was added from a 1 M stock solution in water yielding 0 or 100 mM MgSCU, respectively, in the reaction mixture. To start the reaction, 100 pl_ of an E. coli cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq ID No. 2) were added and the mixture was shaken at 1000 rpm in an Eppendorf Thermomixer at different tem peratures (i.e., 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, 37°C). The final terephthalonitrile concentration in the reaction tube was approximately 1 M. After previously defined time points, the entire reaction mixture was diluted in DMSO. Samples of this solutions were withdrawn, diluted in water and subjected to HPLC analysis. The results are reported as concentration of 4-cyanobenzoic acid present in the 1 ml_ reaction mixture prior to dilution with DMSO.

Table 5: 4-cyanobenzoic acid formation from the nitrilase with the sequence ID 2 (Comamonas testosteroni) at different temperatures in the presence or absence of MgSCu in the biocatalytic reaction. At a reaction temperature of 37°C, full conversion of 1 M terephthalonitrile was only achieved when the reaction mixture was supplemented with MgSC . This implies that the beneficial effect of Mg ²⁺ addition is more pronounced at higher reaction temperatures.

Example 7

The applied biocatalyst (E. coli cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testos teroni (Seq ID No. 2) principally catalyzes the conversion of terephthalonitrile to 4-cyanobenzoic acid as the main reaction.

The reaction conditions during the biocatalytic conversion can be adjusted in order to minimize excessive terephthalic acid formation. 8.14 g terephthalonitrile were added to 91.36 g deionized water in a 100 mL working volume EasyMax 102 reactor (Eppendorf, Germany). The temperature was adjusted to 33°C and the stirrer speed was set to 400 rpm. Mixing was mediated by an impeller stirrer. 0.5 g of an E. coli cell suspension in potassium phosphate buffer containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq ID No. 2) were added to start the bioconversion. Samples were withdrawn for analysis of 4-cyanobenzoic acid and terephthalic acid at regular intervals. After 10.5 h the reaction was terminated, and cells were removed by filtration over Celite535. The final 4-cyanobenzoic acid content was 93 g/kg and the final terephthalic acid content was 0.2 g/kg. This corresponds to full conversion of the applied terephthalonitrile to these two products of the biocatalytic reaction. The fraction of 4-cyanobenzoic acid relative to the total product amount was 99.8%. 0.2% of the total product fraction was terephthalic acid. The tereph- thalic acid fraction is dependent on the mixing efficiency, the amount of biocatalyst added to the reaction and the temperature.

Table 6: Reaction conditions and reaction parameter for the bioconversion of terephthalonitrile. TDN: terephthalonitrile, BDW: biomass dry weight, 4-CBA: 4-cyanobenzoic acid, TA: terephthalic acid. The initial specific activity of the catalyst is determined in the first hour of reaction and is given in kll. 1 kU corresponds to 1 mmol of 4-cyanobenzoic acid formed per minute.

Example 8

3515 g water and 445 g terephthalonitrile were placed in a reactor. The biocatalyst was used in the form of a concentrated cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq. ID 2) and added to the reactor, whereby the bioconversion started. The temperature was kept at 30°C and the reactor was mixed by an overhead-stirrer. The mixture was stirred for 23 h. After the bioconversion, the pH was adjusted with NaOH to pH 9.4 and the reaction mixture was removed from the reactor. An ultrafiltration on a Sartoflow Advance (Sartorius) machine was performed using a membrane with a molecular weight cut-off of 10 kDa to remove the heterologous E. coli cells expressing the nitrilase. The resulting filtrate was split into two portions. 1748 g of the resulting filtrate were diluted with 1500 g water and the pH was adjusted to pH 2.2 by titration with 32 wt-% hydrochloric acid to precipitate the 4-cyanobenzic acid. Another 500 g of water were added to facilitate mixing during the addition of the hydrochloric acid solution. The suspension was filtered and washed with 1x 1500 g water. The wet product was dried until a constant weight was reached. 193 g crystalline product were recovered and analyzed by HPLC and for chloride as well as water content (portion 1). 2029 g of the resulting filtrate were diluted with 1500 g water and the pH was adjusted to pH 1.89 by titration with 32 wt-% hydrochloric acid to precipitate the 4-cyanobenzic acid. Another 250 g of water were added to facilitate mixing during the addition of the hydrochloric acid solution. The suspension was filtered and washed with 2x 1500 g water. The wet product was dried until a constant weight was reached. 223 g crystalline product were recovered and analyzed by HPLC and for chloride as well as water content (portion 2) The amount of water used for washing of the filter cake is decisive for the resulting product purity. Larger washing volume reduce the amount of residual chloride and other unwanted components in the final product. The fraction missing to give a sum of 100 % is composed of ammonium and sodium and contaminants from the preceding biotransformation such as phosphate.

Table 7: Chemical composition of the product when hydrochloric acid is used for the precipitation of 4-cyanobenzoic acid. 1C: ion chromatography

Example 9

881 g water and 108.9 g terephthalonitrile were placed in a reactor. The biocatalyst was used in the form of a concentrate cell suspension containing the nitrilase from Comamonas testosteroni (Seq. ID 2) and added to the reactor, whereby the bioconversion started. The temperature was kept at 30°C and the reactor was mixed by an overhead-stirrer. The mixture was stirred for 24 h.

612 g of the filtrate was diluted with 1000 g water and the pH was adjusted to pH 2.1 by titration with 98 wt-% sulfuric acid to precipitate the 4-cyanobenzic acid. The suspension was filtered and washed with 250 g water. The wet product was dried until a constant weight was reached. 56 g crystalline product were recovered and analyzed by HPLC for 4-cyanobenzoic acid and for ammonium, sulfate, and sodium content.

Table 8: Chemical composition of the product when sulfuric acid is used for the precipitation of 4- cyanobenzoic acid. 1C: ion chromatography.