Abstract
Genomic mining has identified a novel microbial alkaline esterase from the Indian Ocean. This esterase was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and further functionally characterized. Under optimal conditions (10 mmol/L substrate, pH 6.0, 2 h at 40 °C), this esterase can hydrolyze racemic methyl mandelate to (R)-methyl mandelate with very high optical purity (e.e. >99%) and yield (nearly 90%). Interestingly, the stereoselectivity of this esterase is opposite to that of two previously reported lipases that can generate (S)-methyl mandelate through the hydrolysis of racemic methyl mandelate. No organic solvents or other additives were required to optimize the optical purity and production of the final chiral product (R)-methyl mandelate, which can potentially simplify the production procedure of (R)-methyl mandelate catalyzed by esterase.
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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21302199), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA11030404), the Project of “Engineering High-Performance Microorganisms for Advanced Bio-Based Manufacturing” from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KGZD-EW-606), and the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Projects (No. 201510010012)
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Liang, J., Sun, A., Zhang, Y. et al. Functional characterization of a novel microbial esterase identified from the Indian Ocean and its use in the stereoselective preparation of (R)-methyl mandelate. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 34, 1269–1277 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-016-5164-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-016-5164-4