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Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Immobilization of Multi-biocatalysts in Alginate Beads for Cofactor Regeneration and Improved Reusability
Published on: April 22, 2016
Aldehyde Production in Crude Lysate- and Whole Cell-Based Biotransformation Using a Noncanonical Redox Cofactor
Kelly N Richardson1, William B Black1, Han Li1
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-2700, United States.
Abstract:
It is challenging to biosynthesize industrially important aldehydes, which are readily consumed by the numerous alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) in cells. In this work, we demonstrate that a nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN+)-dependent redox cofactor cycling system enables aldehyde accumulation in Escherichia coli crude lysates and whole cells. By specifically delivering reducing power to a recombinant enoate reductase, but not to endogenous ADHs, we convert citral to citronellal with minimal byproduct formation (97-100% and 83% product purity in crude lysate- and whole cell-based biotransformation, respectively). We envision the system's universal application to lowering the noise in biomanufacturing by silencing the host's metabolic background.
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