Biotechnology Letters, Vol.35, No.6, 921-927, 2013
Oxidative decarboxylation of mandelic acid derivative by recombinant Escherichia coli: a novel method of ethyl vanillin synthesis
The benzoylformate decarboxylase gene (mdlC) from Pseudomonas putida was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The recombinant strain together with E. coli/pET30a-mdlB converted (S)-3-ethoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid (S-EMA) into ethyl vanillin without ethyl vanillin degradation. 4 g ethyl vanillin/l was obtained from 10 g EMA/l within 12 h at 30 A degrees C. This is the first report on the biotransformation of (S)-EMA to ethyl vanillin.