1. Molecular Biophysics, School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK 2. National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO,80401 USA 3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA 4. Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, Sao Paulo, 13083-970, Brazil 5. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA 6. Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA 7. Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO, 80401, USA * Email:
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[email protected] ‡ These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Microbial aromatic catabolism offers a promising approach to convert lignin, a vast source of renewable carbon, into useful products. O-aryl-demethylation is an essential biochemical reaction to ultimately catabolize coniferyl and sinapyl lignin-derived aromatic compounds, and is often a key bottleneck for both native and engineered bioconversion pathways. Here, we report the comprehensive characterization of a promiscuous P450 aryl-O-demethylase, consisting of a cytochrome P450 protein from the family CYP255A (GcoA) and a three-domain reductase (GcoB) that together represent a new two-component P450 class. Though originally described as converting guaiacol to catechol, we show that this system efficiently demethylates both guaiacol and an unexpectedly wide variety of lignin-relevant monomers. Structural, biochemical, and computational studies of this novel two-component system elucidate the mechanism of its broad substrate specificity, presenting it as a new tool for a critical step in biological lignin conversion.