What is it about?
Soy has great content of isoflavones, which are also known as phytoestrogens. The estrogenic effect of the isoflavones is amplified when the natural isoflavones is metabolized into (S)-equol by human gut bacteria. The goal of this study is to develop (S)-equol producing artificial E.coli strain which is more applicable in industrial (S)-equol production process compared to the natural gut bacteria.
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Why is it important?
First, this study reports "(S)-equol producing E.coli strain" for the first time. Second, an enzyme involved in equol metabolizing was firstly engineered with rational protein evolution technique for enhancing (S)-equol yield and productivity. Third, the enzyme(DHDR: dihydrodaidzein reductase) kinetics and enantioselectivity was thoroughly studied. Fourth, (3S,4R)-tetrahydrodaidzein and (3R,4R)-tetrahydrodaidzein were firstly synthesized and prepared with high enantioselectivity.
Perspectives
There are many articles about biological functions of (S)-equol for human health or identification of (S)-equol producing bacteria from human or animal guts. But there was few articles to report (S)-equol production or engineering trial to enhance the production of (S)-equol. This article is significantly meaningful in the point of suggesting effective (S)-equol production method.
Dr. Pyung-Gang Lee
Seoul National University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: P212A Mutant of Dihydrodaidzein Reductase Enhances (S)-Equol Production and Enantioselectivity in a Recombinant Escherichia coli Whole-Cell Reaction System, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2016, ASM Journals,
DOI: 10.1128/aem.03584-15.
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