Biochemical Characterization and Mechanistic Analysis of the Levoglucosan Kinase from Lipomyces starkeyi.

Levoglucosan kinase (LGK) catalyzes the simultaneous hydrolysis and phosphorylation of levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranose) in the presence of Mg -ATP. For the Lipomyces starkeyi LGK, we show here with real-time in situ NMR spectroscopy at 10 °C and pH 7.0 that the enzymatic reaction proceeds with inversion of anomeric stereochemistry, resulting in the formation of α-d-glucose-6-phosphate in a manner reminiscent of an inverting β-glycoside hydrolase.

A broad-range yeast expression system reveals Arxula adeninivorans expressing a fungal self-sufficient cytochrome P450 monooxygenase as an excellent whole-cell biocatalyst.

The feasibility of using a single vector to clone a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) in different yeasts and then compare whole-cell hydroxylase activity was investigated. A broad-range yeast expression vector using the ylTEFp to drive expression of the cloned gene and the scTEFp to drive the hygromycin resistance marker gene was used to clone the genes encoding two self-sufficient P450s, CYP102A1 and CYP505A1. Both genes were cloned into Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Yarrowia lipolytica (two strains) and Arxula adeninivorans.