An artificial pathway for trans-4-hydroxy-L-pipecolic acid production from L-lysine in Escherichia coli

Trans-4-hydroxy-L-pipecolic acid (trans-4-HyPip) is a hydroxylated product of L-pipecolic acid, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Here, a trans-4-HyPip biosynthesis module was designed and constructed in Escherichia coli by overexpressing lysine α-oxidase, Δ1-piperideine-2-carboxylase reductase, glucose dehydrogenase, lysine permease, catalase and L-pipecolic acid trans-4-hydroxylase for expanding the lysine catabolism pathway. A total of 4.89 g/L of trans-4-HyPip was generated in shake flasks from 8 g/L of L-pipecolic acid. By this approach, 14.86 g/L of trans-4-HyPip was produced from lysine after 48 h in a 5 L bioreactor. As far as we know, this is the first multi-enzyme cascade catalytic system for the production of trans-4-HyPip using E. coli from L-lysine. Therefore, it can be considered as a potential candidate for the industrial production of trans-4-HyPip in microorganisms.