Production of d-glucuronic acid from myo-inositol using Escherichia coli whole-cell biocatalyst overexpressing a novel myo-inositol oxygenase from Thermothelomyces thermophile

D-glucuronic acid (GlcUA) is an important intermediate with numerous applications in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Its biological production routes which employ myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) as the key enzyme are attractive. In this study, five diverse MIOX-encoding genes, from Cryptococcus neoformans, Chaetomium thermophilum, Arabidopsis thaliana, Thermothelomyces thermophila, and Mus musculus were overexpressed in Escherichia coli, respectively. A novel MIOX from Thermothelomyces thermophila (TtMIOX) exhibited high specific activity, and efficiently converted myo-inositol to GlcUA. Meanwhile, the degradation of GlcUA was inhibited by inactivation of uxaC from the Escherichia coli genome. Finally, the BWΔuxaC whole-cell biocatalyst harboring TtMIOX resulted in the production of 106 g/L GlcUA within 12 h in a 1-L bioreactor, corresponding to a conversion of 91% and productivity of 8.83 g/L/h. This study provides a feasible method for the industrial production of GlcUA.