Broadening the repertoire of microbial aldo-keto reductases: cloning and characterization of AKR3B4 from Rhodotorula mucilaginosa LSL strain.

Aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) are nicotinamide-dependent enzymes that catalyze the transformation of aldehydes and ketones into alcohols. They are spread across all phyla, and those from microbial origin have proved to be highly robust and versatile biocatalysts. In this work, we have discovered and characterized a microbial AKR from the yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa by combining genome-mining and expression assays.