Sucrose as an electron source for cofactor regeneration in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing invertase and a Baeyer Villiger monooxygenase

Background The large-scale biocatalytic application of oxidoreductases requires systems for a cost-effective and efficient regeneration of redox cofactors. These represent the major bottleneck for industrial bioproduction and an important cost factor. In this work, co-expression of the genes of invertase and a Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase from Burkholderia xenovorans to E. coli W Δ cscR and E. coli BL21 (DE3) enabled efficient biotransformation of cyclohexanone to the polymer precursor, ε-caprolactone using sucrose as electron source for regeneration of redox cofactors, at rates comparable to glucose. E. coli W Δ cscR has a native csc regulon enabling sucrose utilization and is deregulated via deletion of the repressor gene ( cscR ), thus enabling sucrose uptake even at concentrations below 6 mM (2 g L −1 ). On the other hand, E. coli BL21 (DE3), which is widely used as an expression host does not contain a csc regulon. Results Herein, we show a proof of concept where the co-expression of invertase for both E. coli hosts was sufficient for efficient sucrose utilization to sustain cofactor regeneration in the Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of cyclohexanone. Using E. coli W Δ cscR , a specific activity of 37 U g DCW −1 was obtained, demonstrating the suitability of the strain for recombinant gene co-expression and subsequent whole-cell biotransformation. In addition, the same co-expression cassette was transferred and investigated with E. coli BL21 (DE3), which showed a specific activity of 17 U g DCW − 1 . Finally, biotransformation using photosynthetically-derived sucrose from Synechocystis S02 with E. coli W Δ cscR expressing BVMO showed complete conversion of cyclohexanone after 3 h, especially with the strain expressing the invertase gene in the periplasm. Conclusions Results show that sucrose can be an alternative electron source to drive whole-cell biotransformations in recombinant E. coli strains opening novel strategies for sustainable chemical production.