A molecular animation of the two enzymes at the centre of R-DetoX 2.5. XplA is a cytochrome P450 with a flavodoxin domain fused to its N-terminus (552 residues; the flavodoxin domain is shown in green, the P450 domain in blue, with the haem iron ligated by Cys503 in the conserved FGLGPHSCAG motif). XplB is its NADPH-dependent flavodoxin reductase (425 residues, in amber). The animation shows XplB approaching XplA, the electron relay that powers catalysis — NADPH → FAD → FMN → haem — and RDX entering the active site and leaving as nitrite and formaldehyde.

Both surfaces are rendered from predicted structures of our own XplA and XplB sequences: atomic coordinates were used to compute a Gaussian contact surface, so every bump and groove on screen comes from the structural model rather than from an artist’s impression. The association between the two proteins is shown schematically — no protein–protein docking was computed, and the orientation of the complex is illustrative.

Credits: Animation, structural rendering and scripting by the iGEM RUM-UPRM 2026 team (University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez). Rendering pipeline written by the team in Python; structural models predicted from the xplA and xplB coding sequences used in our construct. xplA/xplB originate from Rhodococcus rhodochrous 11Y.

https://2026.igem.wiki/rum-uprm