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Application of an efficient indole oxygenase system from Cupriavidus sp. SHE for indigo production

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Abstract

Indigo, one of the most widely used dyes, is mainly produced by chemical processes, which generate amounts of pollutants and need high energy consumption. Microbial production of indigo from indole has attracted much attention; however, the indole oxygenase has never been explored and applied for indigo production. In the present study, the indole oxygenase indAB genes were successfully cloned from Cupriavidus sp. SHE and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) (designated as IND_AB). Strain IND_AB produced primarily indigo in tryptophan medium by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (HPLC–MS) analysis. The preferable conditions for indigo production were pH 6.5 (normal pH), 30 °C, 150 rpm, strain inoculation concentration OD600 0.08, and induction with 1 mM IPTG at the time of inoculation. The optimal culture medium compositions were further determined as tryptophan 1.0 g/L, NaCl 3.55 g/L, and yeast extract 5.12 g/L based on single-factor experiment and response surface methodology. The highest indigo yield was 307 mg/L, which was 4.39-fold higher than the original value. This is the first study investigating indigo production using the indole oxygenase system and the results highlighted its potential in bio-indigo industrial application.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (No. ESK201529); and the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (Grant No. B13012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Chunxiao Dai, Yan Li, Duandi Zhou, Bingyu Yang & Yuanyuan Qu

  2. Institute of Environmental Systems Biology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, China

    Qiao Ma

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  1. Chunxiao Dai
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  2. Qiao Ma
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  3. Yan Li
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Correspondence to Yuanyuan Qu.

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Dai, C., Ma, Q., Li, Y. et al. Application of an efficient indole oxygenase system from Cupriavidus sp. SHE for indigo production. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 42, 1963–1971 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02189-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02189-4

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