Summary Nootkatone is one of the major terpenes in the heartwood of the Nootka cypress Callitropsis nootkatensis. It is an oxidized sesquiterpene, which has been postulated to be derived from valencene. Both valencene and nootkatone are used for flavouring citrus beverages and are considered among the most valuable terpenes used at commercial scale. Functional evaluation of putative terpene synthase genes sourced by large‐scale EST sequencing from Nootka cypress wood revealed a valencene synthase gene (CnVS). CnVS expression in different tissues from the tree correlates well with nootkatone content, suggesting that CnVS represents the first dedicated gene in the nootkatone biosynthetic pathway in C. nootkatensis The gene belongs to the gymnosperm‐specific TPS‐d subfamily of terpenes synthases and its protein sequence has low similarity to known citrus valencene synthases. In vitro, CnVS displays high robustness under different pH and temperature regimes, potentially beneficial properties for application in different host and physiological conditions. Biotechnological production of sesquiterpenes has been shown to be feasible, but productivity of microbial strains expressing valencene synthase from Citrus is low, indicating that optimization of valencene synthase activity is needed. Indeed, expression of CnVS in Saccharomyces cerevisiae indicated potential for higher yields. In an optimized Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain, expression of CnVS increased valencene yields 14‐fold to 352 mg/L, bringing production to levels with industrial potential.

Enzyme-catalyzed reductions have been studied for decades and have been introduced in more than 10 industrial processes for production of various chiral alcohols, alpha-hydroxy acids and alpha-amino acids. The earlier hurdle of expensive cofactors was taken by the development of highly efficient cofactor regeneration methods. In addition, the accessible number of suitable dehydrogenases and therefore the versatility of this technology is constantly increasing and currently expanding beyond asymmetric production of alcohols and amino acids. Access to a large set of enzymes for highly selective C=C reductions and reductive amination of ketones for production of chiral secondary amines and the development of improved D-selective amino acid dehydrogenases will fuel the next wave of industrial bioreduction processes.

a b s t r a c tChicory (Cichorium intybus L.), which is known to have a variety of terpene-hydroxylating activities, was screened for a P450 mono-oxygenase to convert (+)-valencene to (+)-nootkatone. A novel P450 cDNA was identified in a chicory root EST library. Co-expression of the enzyme with a valencene synthase in yeast, led to formation of trans-nootkatol, cis-nootkatol and (+)-nootkatone. The novel enzyme was also found to catalyse a three step conversion of germacrene A to germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid, indicating its involvement in chicory sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis. Likewise, amorpha-4,11-diene was converted to artemisinic acid. Surprisingly, the chicory P450 has a different regio-specificity on (+)-valencene compared to germacrene A and amorpha-4,11-diene.

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The enantioselectivity of epoxide hydrolase from Agrobacterium radiobacter (EchA) was improved using error-prone PCR and DNA shuffling. An agar plate assay was used to screen the mutant libraries for activity. Screening for improved enantioselectivity was subsequently done by spectrophotometric progress curve analysis of the conversion of para-nitrophenyl glycidyl ether (pNPGE). Kinetic resolutions showed that eight mutants were obtained with up to 13-fold improved enantioselectivity toward pNPGE and at least three other epoxides. The large enhancements in enantioselectivity toward epichlorohydrin and 1,2-epoxyhexane indicated that pNPGE acts as an epoxyalkane mimic. Active site mutations were found in all shuffled mutants, which can be explained by an interaction of the affected amino acid with the epoxide oxygen or the hydrophobic moiety of the substrate. Several mutations in the shuffled mutants had additive effects.

Abstract:The substrate scope of the flavoprotein alditol oxidase (AldO) from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), recombinantly produced in Escherichia coli, was explored. While it has been established that AldO efficiently oxidizes alditols to d-aldoses, this study revealed that the enzyme is also active with a broad range of aliphatic and aromatic alcohols. Alcohols containing hydroxy groups at the C-1 and C-2 positions like 1,2,4-butanetriol (K m = 170 mM, k cat = 4.4 s À1 ), 1,2-pentanediol (K m = 52 mM, k cat = 0.85 s À1) and 1,2-hexanediol (K m = 97 mM, k cat = 2.0 s À1 ) were readily accepted by AldO. Furthermore, the enzyme was highly enantioselective for the oxidation of 1,2-diols [e.g., for 1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol the (R)-enantiomer was preferred with an E-value of 74]. For several diols the oxidation products were determined by GC-MS and NMR. Interestingly, for all tested 1,2-diols the products were found to be the a-hydroxy acids instead of the expected a-hydroxy aldehydes. Incubation of (R)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol with O) revealed that a second enzymatic oxidation step occurs via the hydrate product intermediate. The relaxed substrate specificity, excellent enantioselectivity, and independence of coenzymes make AldO an attractive enzyme for the preparation of optically pure 1,2-diols and a-hydroxy acids.

The ␣-amino acid ester hydrolase from Acetobacter turbidans ATCC 9325 is capable of hydrolyzing and synthesizing ␤-lactam antibiotics, such as cephalexin and ampicillin. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of the purified ␣-amino acid ester hydrolase allowed cloning and genetic characterization of the corresponding gene from an A. turbidans genomic library. The gene, designated aehA, encodes a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 72,000. Comparison of the determined N-terminal sequence and the deduced amino acid sequence indicated the presence of an N-terminal leader sequence of 40 amino acids. The aehA gene was subcloned in the pET9 expression plasmid and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was purified and found to be dimeric with subunits of 70 kDa. A sequence similarity search revealed 26% identity with a glutaryl 7-ACA acylase precursor from Bacillus laterosporus, but no homology was found with other known penicillin or cephalosporin acylases. There was some similarity to serine proteases, including the conservation of the active site motif, GXSYXG. Together with database searches, this suggested that the ␣-amino acid ester hydrolase is a ␤-lactam antibiotic acylase that belongs to a class of hydrolases that is different from the Ntn hydrolase superfamily to which the well-characterized penicillin acylase from E. coli belongs. The ␣-amino acid ester hydrolase of A. turbidans represents a subclass of this new class of ␤-lactam antibiotic acylases.In the search for microorganisms to be used in the biocatalytic production of semisynthetic antibiotics, Acetobacter turbidans ATCC 9325 was first described in 1972 by Takahashi et al. (35) as an organism able to synthesize cephalosporins. Since only ␣-amino acid derivatives could act as substrates and due to the preference for esters over amides, the enzyme involved was named ␣-amino acid ester hydrolase (AEH) (34).A similar AEH (EC 3.1.1.43) activity has been described for several other organisms. These enzymes catalyze the transfer of the acyl group from ␣-amino acid esters to amine nucleophiles such as 7-aminocephem and 6-penam compounds (synthesis) or to water (hydrolysis) (Fig. 1). Presumably, an acylenzyme intermediate is involved in this transfer reaction (9, 34). These AEHs show promising properties for the industrial enzymatic production of semisynthetic ␤-lactam antibiotics. Due to the preference for esters, it is conceivable that higher product (amide) accumulation can be reached in synthesis reactions using these enzymes than with the Escherichia coli penicillin G acylase (EC 3.5.1.11) (15,28,34). Moreover, the enzyme of A. turbidans showed high selectivity toward the D-form of phenylglycine methyl ester (D-PGM, the activated acyl donor). This enables an ampicillin synthesis starting from a racemic mixture of acyl donors, which is not feasible with the E. coli penicillin acylase (14). In contrast to penicillin acylase from E. coli, it was claimed that the AEHs are able to accept charged substrates (9). The low pH optimum of the ␣-ami...

Both enantiomers of 1‐naphthylglycine were obtained in 99% ee by enzymatic resolution of the corresponding racemic amino acid amide, giving access to the novel ligands (R)‐ and (S)‐naphthylbis(oxazoline). Initial studies provided insight into the scope and limitations of the (S)‐naphthyl‐substituted bis(oxazoline) and its steric influence compared to other bis(oxazolines) in catalytic asymmetric synthesis. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)