Volume 134, Issue 46 e202212720
Forschungsartikel

Hydrophilicity-Based Engineering of the Active Pocket of D-Amino Acid Oxidase Leading to Highly Improved Specificity toward D-Glufosinate

Kai Yang

Kai Yang

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Bin Huang

Bin Huang

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Charles Amanze

Charles Amanze

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Zhen Yan

Zhen Yan

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Guanzhou Qiu

Guanzhou Qiu

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Prof. Xueduan Liu

Prof. Xueduan Liu

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Prof. Hongbo Zhou

Prof. Hongbo Zhou

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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Prof. Weimin Zeng

Corresponding Author

Prof. Weimin Zeng

Central South University, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, 932 South Lushan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha Hunan, 410083 P.R. China

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First published: 23 September 2022

Abstract

Due to its stringent stereospecificity, D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) has made it very easy to synthesize L-amino acids. However, the low activity of the wild-type enzyme toward unnatural substrates, such as D-glufosinate (D-PPT), restricts its application. In this study, DAAO from Rhodotorula gracilis (RgDAAO) was directly evolved using a hydrophilicity-substitution saturation mutagenesis strategy, yielding a mutant with significantly increased catalytic activity against D-PPT. The mutant displays distinct catalytic properties toward hydrophilic substrates as compared to numerous WT-DAAOs. The analysis of homology modeling and molecular dynamic simulation suggest that the extended reaction pocket with greater hydrophilicity was the reason for the enhanced activity. The current study established an enzymatic synthetic route to L-PPT, an excellent herbicide, with high efficiency, and the proposed strategy provides a new viewpoint on enzyme engineering for the biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

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