Isolation and Characterization of a Putative Ammonia monooxygenase (amo) gene of Morganella morganii (Fulton, 1943) from Seafood Processing Waste Water

Abstract

In the aquatic environment, microbial oxidation of
ammonical nitrogen is an important biological
process. The bacterial enzyme ammonia
monooxygenase is the key enzyme involved in the
oxidation of ammonia. In this study, the ammonia
monooxygenase (amo) gene from Morganella morganii
(Fulton, 1943) was isolated and characterized by
full-length gene amplification, cloning, sequencing
and in-silico protein structure and function predictions.
The nucleotide sequence of ammonia
monooxygenase gene was derived which showed
99% similarity with the homologous gene of M.
morganii sub sp. morganii. In-silico structural and
functional analyses of the ammonia monooxygenase
gene revealed a class of transporter protein with a
putative role in ammonia transportation. Further
study is necessary to understand the role of this
protein in ammonia oxidation by M. morganii.