Abstract
(R)-(−)-Mandelic acid (R-MA) is an important intermediate with broad uses. Recently, R-MA production using nitrilase has been gaining more and more attention due to its higher productivity and enantioselectivity. In this work, a new bacterium WT10, which exhibited favorable nitrilase activity and excellent enantioselectivity for production of R-MA by enantioselective biocatalytic hydrolysis of (R,S)-mandelonitrile, was isolated and identified as a strain of Alcaligenes faecalis. In order to improve its nitrilase activity for industrial application, the wild-type strain WT10 was further subjected to mutagenesis using a combined LiCl–ultraviolet irradiation and low energy N+ ion beams implantation technique. A valuable mutant strain A. faecalis ZJUTB10 was obtained. The nitrilase specific activity of the mutant strain was greatly improved up to 350.8 U g−1, in comparison with wild-type strain WT10 of 53.09 U g−1. The reaction conditions for R-MA production by mutant strain A. faecalis ZJUTB10 were also optimized. Nitrilase activity in mutant strain showed a broad pH optimum at pH 7.7–8.5. The optimal temperature was 35°C. The highest production rate reached 9.3 mmol h−1 g−1. The results showed that mutant strain A. faecalis ZJUTB10 was a new candidate for efficient R-MA production from (R,S)-mandelonitrile and could potentially be used in industrial production.
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This work was supported by the Fund of the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2009AA02Z203), the Major Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Project) (No. 2009CB724704), and Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. Z4090612).
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Xue, YP., Xu, SZ., Liu, ZQ. et al. Enantioselective biocatalytic hydrolysis of (R,S)-mandelonitrile for production of (R)-(−)-mandelic acid by a newly isolated mutant strain. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 38, 337–345 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-010-0778-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-010-0778-6