title: Microbial production of optically active beta-phenylalanine through stereoselective degradation of racemic beta-phenylalanine.
abstract: The ability to produce (R)- or (S)-beta-phenylalanine from racemic beta-phenylalanine through stereoselective degradation was screened for. Variovorax sp. JH2 and Arthrobacter sp. the faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University (AKU) 638 were found to be potential catalysts for (R)- and (S)-beta-phenylalanine production respectively. On 192 h cultivation of Variovorax sp. in medium containing 1.0% (w/v) racemic beta-phenylalanine, 0.46% (w/v) (R)-beta-phenylalanine with an enantiomeric purity of 99% e.e. was obtained. The initial step of the (S)-isomer degradation was stereoselective transamination. On 312 h cultivation of Arthrobacter sp. in medium containing 1.0% (w/v) racemic beta-phenylalanine, 0.51% (w/v) (R)-beta-phenylalanine with an enantiomeric purity of 90% e.e. was obtained. The initial step of the (R)-isomer degradation was supposed to be oxidative deamination. Resting cell reaction with vigorous shaking, with cells of Arthrobacter sp. as the catalyst, resulted in production of 0.49% (w/v) of (S)-beta-phenylalanine with an enantiomeric purity of 99% e.e. from 1.0% (w/v) racemic beta-phenylalanine in 45 h.
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mano
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Sakayu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D001173:Arthrobacter / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002384:Catalysis; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010649:Phenylalanine