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Functional Characterization of a Marine Bacillus Esterase and its Utilization in the Stereo-Selective Production of D-Methyl Lactate

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Abstract

Chiral lactic acid and its ester derivatives are crucial building blocks and platforms in the generation of high value-added drugs, fine chemicals and functional materials. Optically pure D-lactic acid and its ester derivatives cannot be directly generated from fermentation and are quite expensive. Herein, we identified, heterologously expressed and functionally characterized one Bacillus esterase BSE01701 from the deep sea of the Indian Ocean. Esterase BSE01701 could enzymatically resolve inexpensive racemic methyl lactate and generate chiral D-methyl lactate. The enantiomeric excess of desired chiral D-methyl lactate and the substrate conversion could reach over 99 % and 60 %, respectively, after process optimization. Notably, the addition of 60 % (v/v) organic co-solvent heptane could greatly improve both the enantiomeric excess of D-methyl lactate and the conversion. BSE01701 was a very promising marine microbial esterase in the generation of chiral chemicals in industry.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the financial supports from the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA11030404), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21302199), Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Projects (201510010012) and Key Project “Engineering High-Performance Microorganisms for Advanced Bio-Based Manufacturing” from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KGZD-EW-606). We also would like to thank for the constant help from Professor Jianhua Ju and Professor Changsheng Zhang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, People’s Republic of China

    Jinlong Huang, Yun Zhang & Yunfeng Hu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Jinlong Huang

  3. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, People’s Republic of China

    Yun Zhang & Yunfeng Hu

  4. South China Sea Bio-Resource Exploitation and Utilization Collaborative Innovation Center, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yunfeng Hu

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  1. Jinlong Huang
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Correspondence to Yunfeng Hu.

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Huang, J., Zhang, Y. & Hu, Y. Functional Characterization of a Marine Bacillus Esterase and its Utilization in the Stereo-Selective Production of D-Methyl Lactate. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 180, 1467–1481 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-016-2180-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-016-2180-y

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