To enhance the efficiency of phenyllactic acid (PLA) production from l-phenylalanine (l-Phe) by introducing a novel artificial pathway into Escherichia coli The production of PLA from l-Phe by recombinant E. coli (ldh-lpox) coexpressing l-phenylalanine oxidase and l-lactate dehydrogenase was studied. The new PLA synthesis pathway was confirmed to be efficient in recombinant E. coli. Subsequently, two different biocatalyst processes were carried out and optimized for PLA production. In the whole cell biosynthesis process at high cell density using collected recombinant cells as catalyst, at optimal conditions (l-Phe 6 g/l, pH 7.5, 35 A degrees C, CDW 24.5 g/l and 200 rpm), the recombinant E. coli (ldh-lpox) produced 1.62 g PLA/l with a conversion of 28% from l-Phe. Similarly, during the two-temperature-stage fermentation process in flasks using IPTG-induced cells, the temperature in the second stage was increased to 35 A degrees C to benefit the biocatalyst process, and comparable phenyllactic acid production of 1.47 g/l was obtained from 12 g l-Phe/l. Recombinant E. coli (ldh-lpox) was efficient in PLA production realizing a high titer of several folds compared with studies using l-Phe as substrate.