Functional Role of Beta Class Glutathione Transferases and Its Biotechnological Potential (Review)

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is an ancient enzyme that widely spread in aerobic organisms, including bacteria. GST catalyzes the conjugation reaction between the various electrophilic compound and glutathione (GSH) through nucleophilic substitution mechanism. Unlike higher eukaryote GSTs which are commonly play a role in detoxification, bacterial GSTs are mainly involve within primary metabolism to support microorganism survival in the low-nutrient environment. Beta is a cytosolic GST class which only found in bacteria. Several unique GST activities such as binding with antibiotics, oxidoreductase activity and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have only been observed in beta class GST. The special catalytic activity of bacterial GST has been extensively proposed to address environment contaminations. Unlike other approaches, utilizing bacteria in bioremediation has some benefits: it is simple, inexpensive, less harmful, and provide the long-term protection. Some genetically modified organisms exploiting bacterial GST have been developed to detect and solve PAHs contamination.