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Conversion of hydrogen carbonate to formate by mutants of Candida methylica (Cm FDH) and Chaetomium thermophilum (Ct FDH) formate dehydrogenases (FDHs) was studied. Hydrogen carbonate is not the primary substrate for the hydride transfer reaction in FDHs. The chosen mutations were selected so that enzyme activity could remain at an adequate level. In Ct FDH, the mutation Asn120Cys in the active site inactivated the enzyme for formate (oxidation) but increased the specific activity for hydrogen carbonate (reduction) as a function of substrate concentration. The mutation Asn120Cys in Ct FDH increased 6.5-fold the K M, indicating that substrate binding was weakened. A 6.5-fold increase of k cat compensated the lower affinity suggesting that product release was improved. The corresponding mutation Asn119Cys in Cm FDH inactivated the enzyme for both substrates. Molecular dynamics simulations indicated that the active site dimensions change differently with different substrates after mutations, and in the mutant Asn120Cys of Ct FDH, hydrogen carbonate adopted better reactive position than formate. With hydrogen carbonate, the active site enlarged enough for two hydrogen carbonate molecules to be placed there. The change of Asn119 to bulky Tyr or His in Cm FDH requires changes in the active site to accommodate the substrate; activity with formate was retained but not with hydrogen carbonate. This study showed that the active site of FDHs can be modified radically, which gives possibilities for further enzyme engineering to improve the reaction with hydrogen carbonate or carbon dioxide for enzymatic fixing of carbon dioxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]