Recently, Professor Gaowei Zheng's research team at the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, has developed a new pathway for the biosynthesis of non-natural lactic acid. The research findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The biological transformation and utilization of C1 (one-carbon) compounds are crucial for building a sustainable carbon circular economy. In recent years, scholars both domestically and internationally have utilized C1 compounds as raw materials to achieve the biosynthesis of various compounds, such as starch, alanine, glycine, and acetone from CO2. Among these, lactic acid is an important platform compound widely used in the fields of medicine, cosmetics, and food.
The research team utilized different enzyme components and established three enzyme-catalyzed synthetic pathways from methanol to D-, L-, and racemic lactic acid based on a modular, in vitro multienzyme catalysis approach, thus achieving the non-natural biosynthesis of lactic acid. Targeting key enzymes in the pathway (such as alcohol oxidase GtrAOX with methanol oxidation activity), the researchers enhanced its catalytic performance through directed evolution strategies. Furthermore, they optimized single enzyme catalytic modules and multienzyme systems, increasing the lactic acid product concentration to 2.2—2.8 g/L, with a maximum synthesis rate reaching 9.6—15.6 g/L/d, and achieving a lactic acid optical purity of 99%.
Title: Construction of Methanol-to-Lactic Acid Multienzyme Catalytic Route
Related Paper Information: https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.3c05489
