Highly efficient biocatalytic synthesis of l-DOPA using in situ immobilized Verrucomicrobium spinosum tyrosinase on polyhydroxyalkanoate nano-granules

l-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-l-alanine) is a preferred drug for Parkinson’s disease, and is currently in great demand every year worldwide. Biocatalytic conversion of l-tyrosine by tyrosinases is the most promising method for the low-cost production of l-DOPA in both research and industry. Yet, it has been hampered by low productivity, low conversion rate, and low stability of the biocatalyst, tyrosinase. An alternative tyrosinase TyrVs from Verrucomicrobium spinosum with more efficient expression in heterologous host and better stability than the commercially available Agaricus bisporus tyrosinase was identified in this study. Additionally, it was prepared as a novel nano-biocatalyst based on the distinct one-step in situ immobilization on the surface of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) nano-granules. The resulting PHA-TyrVs nano-granules demonstrated improved l-DOPA-forming monophenolase activity of 9155.88 U/g (Tyr protein), which was 3.19-fold higher than that of free TyrVs. The nano-granules also exhibited remarkable thermo-stability, with an optimal temperature of 50 °C, and maintained more than 70% of the initial activity after incubation at 55 °C for 24 h. And an enhanced affinity of copper ion was observed in the PHA-TyrVs nano-granules, making them even better biocatalysts for l-DOPA production. Therefore, a considerable productivity of l-DOPA, amounting to 148.70 mg/L h, with a conversion rate of l-tyrosine of 90.62% can be achieved by the PHA-TyrVs nano-granules after 3 h of biocatalysis under optimized conditions, without significant loss of enzyme activity or l-DOPA yield after 8 cycles of repeated use. Our study provides an excellent and robust nano-biocatalyst for the cost-effective production of l-DOPA.