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Multi-enzyme cascade for sustainable synthesis of l-threo-phenylserine by modulating aldehydes inhibition and kinetic/thermodynamic controls

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Abstract

l-Threonine transaldolase could catalyze the transaldolation of l-threonine and aldehyde to generate β-hydroxy-α-amino acids with high diastereoselectivity. A novel l-threonine transaldolase (PmLTTA) was identified from Pseudomonas sp. through genome mining. PmLTTA exhibited high activity in the synthesis of l-threo-phenylserine from l-threonine and benzaldehyde, with specific activity of 5.48 U mg–1. However, the application of PmLTTA was impeded by the low conversion ratio and variable diastereoselectivity, which were caused by the toxicity of aldehydes and kinetic/thermodynamic controls in the transaldolation reaction. To solve these issues, alcohol dehydrogenase was used to remove the by-product acetaldehyde, and then carboxylic acid reductase was introduced to alleviate the inhibition of benzaldehyde and toxicity of DMSO. Finally, a multi-enzyme cascade reaction, comprising of PmLTTA, carboxylic acid reductase, alcohol dehydrogenase and glucose dehydrogenase, was constructed to prepare l-threo-phenylserine from cheap benzoic acid, in which alleviated inhibition of aldehydes and desirable diastereoselectivity were achieved. Under the optimized conditions, the conversion ratio of 57.1% and de value of 95.3% were reached. This study provides an efficient and green approach for the synthesis of chiral l-threo-phenylserine from industrial byproduct, and provides guidance for the development of cascade reactions influenced by the toxic intermediates and complicated kinetic/thermodynamic controls.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the National Key Research and Development Program (2021YFC2102700), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22077054, 22078127), the National First-Class Discipline Program of Light Industry Technology and Engineering (LITE2018-07), and Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (111-2-06) for the financial support of this research.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Yuansong Xiu, Guochao Xu & Ye Ni

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  1. Yuansong Xiu
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Correspondence to Guochao Xu or Ye Ni.

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Xiu, Y., Xu, G. & Ni, Y. Multi-enzyme cascade for sustainable synthesis of l-threo-phenylserine by modulating aldehydes inhibition and kinetic/thermodynamic controls. Syst Microbiol and Biomanuf 2, 705–715 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43393-022-00102-x

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