Enzymatic synthesis of L-tryptophan from D,L-2-amino-Δ2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid and indole by Pseudomonas sp. TS1138 L-2-amino-Δ2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid hydrolase, S -carbamyl-L-cysteine amidohydrolase and Escherichia coli L-tryptophanase

L-Tryptophan (L-Trp) is an essential amino acid. It is widely used in medical, health and food products, so a low-cost supply is needed. There are 4 methods for L-Trp production: chemical synthesis, extraction, enzymatic synthesis, and fermentation. In this study, we produced a recombinant bacterial strain pET-tnaA of Escherichia coli which has the L-tryptophanase gene. Using the pET-tnaA E. coli and the strain TS1138 of Pseudomonas sp., a one-pot enzymatic synthesis of L-Trp was developed. Pseudomonas sp. TS1138 was added to a solution of D,L-2-amino-Δ2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid (DL-ATC) to convert it to L-cysteine (L-Cys). After concentration, E. coli BL21 (DE 3) cells including plasmid pET-tnaA, indole, and pyridoxal 5’-phosphate were added. At the optimum conditions, the conversion rates of DL-ATC and L-Cys were 95.4% and 92.1%, respectively. After purifying using macroporous resin S8 and NKA-II, 10.32 g of L-Trp of 98.3% purity was obtained. This study established methods for one-pot enzymatic synthesis and separation of L-Trp. This method of producing L-Trp is more environmentally sound than methods using chemical synthesis, and it lays the foundations for industrial production of L-Trp from dl-ATC and indole.