Transformation of Morphine Alkaloid by a Novel Indigenous Pseudomonas Strain Isolated from Wastewater of a Pharmaceutical Plant in Iran

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Seyed Mansour Meybodi ¹
• Zahra Padeban ²

¹ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Mazandaran, Tonekabon, Iran

² Research and development center, Behansar Pharmaceutical Company, Saveh, Iran

10.22034/ijmcm.2024.710158

Abstract

Morphine alkaloids represent a class of pharmaceuticals characterized by their potent analgesic properties. In recent years, researchers have employed microbial biotransformation of alkaloids as a strategy to generate more effective analgesic compounds. Evidence suggests that biotransformation is an efficient and cost-effective method for the production of novel substances. In this study, Pseudomonas sp. was isolated from wastewater samples obtained from a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and cultured in a mineral medium. The medium was supplemented with 5 mM morphine as the sole carbon source. The isolated strain was identified using morphological and biochemical methods. For genetic identification, 16S rDNA PCR sequencing was conducted. The capabilities of the isolated strain to biotransform morphine alkaloids were evaluated using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results demonstrated that the isolated strain exhibited over 99% genetic similarity to Pseudomonas putida. Following an 8-day incubation period, the concentration of morphine in the growth medium decreased from 1000 to 616.2 μg/mL, while a concentration of 387.2 μg/mL of hydromorphone was synthesized. These findings indicate that the isolated strain can efficiently and effectively convert morphine into hydromorphone for pharmaceutical applications. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the specific proteins and enzymes involved in this biochemical pathway.

Keywords

• Transformation
• Morphine
• Pseudomonas
• wastewater
• Behansar Plant

Main Subjects

• Bacteriology

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