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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Directed Evolution Method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Mutant Library Creation and Screening
Published on: April 1, 2016
Whole-Cell-Catalyzed Multiple Regio- and Stereoselective Functionalizations in Cascade Reactions Enabled by Directed
Aitao Li1,2, Adriana Ilie1,2, Zhoutong Sun1,2
1Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
Directed evolution created engineered E. coli whole cells for novel biocatalytic cascade reactions. This enables efficient synthesis of valuable chiral products like cyclohexane-1,2-diol from simple starting materials.
Area of Science:
- Biocatalysis and metabolic engineering
- Synthetic chemistry
- Enzyme engineering
Background:
- One-pot biocatalytic cascade reactions offer efficient synthesis of chiral products.
- Current limitations include substrate specificity of wild-type enzymes.
- Developing novel biocatalytic routes is crucial for sustainable chemistry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer E. coli whole cells for novel regio- and stereoselective biocatalytic cascade reactions.
- To overcome substrate limitations of wild-type enzymes using directed evolution.
- To demonstrate the synthesis of valuable chiral diols and hydroxyketones.
Main Methods:
- Directed evolution of E. coli whole cells.
- Utilizing P450-BM3 and alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) as biocatalysts.
- Implementing two-, three-, and four-step cascade reactions in one-pot processes.
Main Results:
- Engineered E. coli successfully performed cascade reactions starting from cyclohexane, cyclohexanol, or cyclohexanone.
- Achieved stereoselective synthesis of (R,R)-, (S,S)-, and meso-cyclohexane-1,2-diol.
- Demonstrated one-pot conversion of cyclohexane to (R)- or (S)-2-hydroxycyclohexanone.
Conclusions:
- Directed evolution is a powerful tool for creating bespoke biocatalytic systems.
- Engineered whole cells enable complex cascade reactions not feasible with native enzymes.
- This approach expands the scope of biocatalysis for producing valuable chiral compounds.
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