Effective production of 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (L-DOPA) with Erwinia herbicola cells carrying a mutant transcriptional regulator TyrR.

The enzymatic production of 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (L-DOPA) using Erwinia herbicola cells involves the action of tyrosine phenol-lyase (Tpl, EC 4.1.99.2). Since Tpl is only synthesized under L-tyrosine-induced conditions, the addition of L-tyrosine to the medium is unavoidable when preparing cells (the enzyme source), but severely impedes the pure preparation of the final product L-DOPA. We circumvented this problem by using recombinant E. herbicola cells carrying a mutant transcriptional regulator TyrR, which is capable of activating the tpl promoter in the absence of L-tyrosine.