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Bioconversion of Stevioside to Rebaudioside E Using Glycosyltransferase UGTSL2

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Abstract

Rebaudioside E, one of the minor components of steviol glycosides, was first isolated and identified from Stevia rebaudiana in 1977. It is a high-intensity sweetener that tastes about 150–200 times sweeter than sucrose and is also a precursor for biosynthesis of rebaudioside D and rebaudioside M, the next-generation Stevia sweeteners. In this work, new unknown steviol glycosides were enzymatically synthesized from stevioside by coupling UDP-glucosyltransferase UGTSL2 from Solanum lycopersicum and sucrose synthase StSUS1 from Solanum tuberosum. Rebaudioside E was speculated to be the main product of glucosylation of the Glc(β1→C-19) residue of stevioside along with the formation of a (β1→2) linkage based on the analysis of the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of UGTSL2, and verified afterwards by LC-MS/MS with standard. In a 20-ml bioconversion reaction of 20 g/l stevioside by UGTSL2 and StSUS1, 15.92 g/l rebaudioside E was produced for 24 h.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the NSFC-China (21878155), Provincial Key R&D Plan of Jiangsu-China (BE2017703), PAPD-China, Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Universities-China, Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province-China, and Jiangsu Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Bio-Manufacture-China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211800, China

    Liangliang Chen, Huayi Pan, Ruxin Cai, Yan Li, Honghua Jia, Kequan Chen, Ming Yan & Pingkai Ouyang

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  1. Liangliang Chen
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  2. Huayi Pan
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  3. Ruxin Cai
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  4. Yan Li
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  5. Honghua Jia
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  7. Ming Yan
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  8. Pingkai Ouyang
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Contributions

LC and YL conceived and designed the study. LC, HP, and RC performed the experiments and analyzed the data. LC wrote the paper. HJ, KC, MY, and PO reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yan Li.

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Chen, L., Pan, H., Cai, R. et al. Bioconversion of Stevioside to Rebaudioside E Using Glycosyltransferase UGTSL2. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 193, 637–649 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03439-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03439-y

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