Biosynthesis of the Nylon 12 Monomer, ω‐Aminododecanoic Acid with Novel CYP153A, AlkJ, and ω‐TA Enzymes

Bioplastics are derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oils, cellulose, and starches. An important and high-performance member of the bioplastic family is Nylon 12. The biosynthesis of ω-amino dodecanoic acid (ω-AmDDA), the monomer of Nylon 12 from vegetable oil derivatives is considered as an alternative to petroleum-based monomer synthesis. In this study, for the production of ω-AmDDA from dodecanoic acid (DDA), the cascade of novel P450 (CYP153A), alcohol dehydrogenase (AlkJ), and ω-transaminase (ω-TA) is developed. The regioselective ω-hydroxylation of 1 mM DDA with near complete conversion (>99%) is achieved using a whole-cell biocatalyst co-expressing CYP153A, ferredoxin reductase and ferredoxin. When the consecutive biotransformation of ω-hydroxy dodecanoic acid (ω-OHDDA) is carried out using a whole-cell biocatalyst co-expressing AlkJ and ω-TA, 1.8 mM ω-OHDDA is converted into ω-AmDDA with 87% conversion in 3 h. Finally, when a one-pot reaction is carried out with 2 mM DDA using both whole-cell systems, 0.6 mM ω-AmDDA is produced after a 5 h reaction. The results demonstrated the scope of the potential cascade reaction of novel CYP153A, AlkJ, and ω-TA for the production of industrially important bioplastic monomers, amino fatty acids, from FFAs.