Alkane oxidation by modified hydroxylases

An isolated or recombinant polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 with up to 50 conservative amino acid substitutions and wherein if residues 47, 78, 82, 94, 142, 175, 184, 205, 226, 236, 252, 255, 290, 328, and 353 and optionally further residues 464, and 710 are substituted these residues have selective substitutions as follows:

• (i) at positions selected from the group consisting of 47, 82, 142, 205, 236, 252, 255, and 464 and any combination thereof, an amino acid residue selected from glycine (G), asparagine (N), glutamine (Q), serine (S), threonine (T), tyrosine (Y), and cysteine (C);
• (ii) at positions selected from the group consisting of 94, 175, 184, 290 and 353, and any combination thereof, an amino acid residue selected from alanine (A), valine (V), leucine (L), isoleucine (I), proline (P), and methionine (M);
• (iii) at position 226, an amino acid selected from lysine (K) and arginine (R);
• (iv) at positions 78 and 328, an amino acid selected from alanine (A), tyrosine (Y), phenylalanine (F), tryptophan (W) and histidine (H);
• and
• (v) at position 710 a threonine (T),
• wherein the polypeptide catalyzes the conversion of a (C1-C12)alkane to an alcohol.