L-phenylacetylcarbinol production by yeast petite mutants

• Published in: Annals of microbiology Vol. 66; no. 3; pp. 1049 - 1055
• Main Authors: Doostmohammadi, Mohsen, Asadollahi, Mohammad Ali, Nahvi, Iraj, Biria, Davoud, Ghezelbash, Gholam Reza, Kheyrandish, Maryam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2016; Springer
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Applied Microbiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Enzymes; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Mycology; Original Article; Immobilization; L-Phenylacetylcarbinol; Acetohydroxyacid synthase; Petite mutants; Benzaldehyde
• ISSN: 1590-4261; 1869-2044
• DOI: 10.1007/s13213-015-1190-2

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is able to biotransform benzaldehyde into L-phenylacetylcarbinol (L-PAC), a key intermediate in the production of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, by the action of pyruvate decarobxylase (PDC) enzyme. This biotransformation can alternatively be performed by acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) which is a mitochondrial enzyme. In the yeast petite mutants, AHAS accumulates in the cytosol. In the current study, wild-type yeast cells and yeast petite mutants were examined for L-PAC biosynthesis. The results showed higher L-PAC titers in the yeast petite mutants. In addition, the effect of cell immobilization and carbon source (glucose or molasses) on L-PAC production was investigated. It was found that cell immobilization enhances L-PAC formation. The highest L-PAC concentration (2.4 g/l) was obtained at 2 g/l of benzaldehyde using the immobilized petite mutants grown on molasses.