A Nonconventional Archaeal Fluorinase Identified by In Silico Mining for Enhanced Fluorine Biocatalysis

Abstract

Fluorinases, the only enzymes known to catalyze the transfer of fluorine to an organic molecule, are essential catalysts for the biological synthesis of valuable organofluorines. However, the few fluorinases identified so far have low turnover rates that hamper biotechnological applications. Here, we isolated and characterized putative fluorinases retrieved from systematic in silico mining and identified a nonconventional archaeal enzyme from <i>Methanosaeta</i> sp. that mediates the fastest S_N2 fluorination rate reported to date. Furthermore, we demonstrate enhanced production of fluoronucleotides in vivo in a bacterial host engineered with this archaeal fluorinase, paving the way toward synthetic metabolism for efficient biohalogenation.