The primary structure of 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Streptomyces hydrogenans was determined after FPLC purification of a commercial preparation. Peptides obtained from different proteolytic cleavages were purified by reverse phase HPLC. The 255-residue structure deduced was found to be distantly homologous to those of Drosophila alcohol dehydrogenase and several other dehydrogenases, establishing that prokaryotic 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase as a member of the ‘short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase family’. With the enzymes characterized, the identity is greatest (31–34%) towards 4 other prokaryotic dehydrogenases, but the family also includes mammalian steroid and prostaglandin dehydrogenases. These enzymes are low in Cys and have a strictly conserved Tyr residue that appears to be important.
