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Microbial transformation of ferulic acid to vanillic acid by Streptomyces sannanensis MTCC 6637

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Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Streptomyces sannanensis MTCC 6637 was examined for its potentiality to transform ferulic acid into its corresponding hydroxybenzoate-derivatives. Cultures of S. sannanensis when grown on minimal medium containing ferulic acid as sole carbon source, vanillic acid accumulation was observed in the medium as the major biotransformed product along with transient formation of vanillin. A maximum amount of 400 mg/l vanillic acid accumulation was observed, when cultures were grown on 5 mM ferulic acid at 28°C. This accumulation of vanillic acid was found to be stable in the culture media for a long period of time, thus facilitating its recovery. Purification of vanillic acid was achieved by gel filtration chromatography using Sephadex™ LH-20 matrix. Catabolic route of ferulic acid biotransformation by S. sannanensis has also been demonstrated. The metabolic inhibitor experiment [by supplementation of 3,4 methylenedioxy-cinnamic acid (MDCA), a metabolic inhibitor of phenylpropanoid enzyme 4-hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA ligase (4-CL) along with ferulic acid] suggested that biotransformation of ferulic acid into vanillic acid mainly proceeds via CoA-dependent route. In vitro conversions of ferulic acid to vanillin, vanillic acid and vanillin to vanillic acid were also demonstrated with cell extract of S. sannanensis. Further degradation of vanillic acid to other intermediates such as, protocatechuic acid and guaiacol was not observed, which was also confirmed in vitro with cell extract.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a research grant (No. BT/PR/2516/PID/24/120/2001 to A. Mitra and S. K. Sen) from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, India. S. Ghosh acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for the award of an individual senior research fellowship. A. Sachan thanks Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur for awarding an institute research scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Product Biotechnology Group, Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Shashwati Ghosh, Ashish Sachan & Adinpunya Mitra

  2. Microbiology Laboratory, Botany Department, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, 731235, India

    Sukanta Kumar Sen

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  1. Shashwati Ghosh
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  2. Ashish Sachan
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  3. Sukanta Kumar Sen
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  4. Adinpunya Mitra
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Correspondence to Adinpunya Mitra.

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Ghosh, S., Sachan, A., Sen, S.K. et al. Microbial transformation of ferulic acid to vanillic acid by Streptomyces sannanensis MTCC 6637. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 34, 131–138 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-006-0177-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-006-0177-1

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