A novel phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from Pseudozyma antarctica for stereoselective biotransformations of unnatural amino acids

Abstract A novel phenylalanine ammonia-lyase of the psychrophilic yeast Pseudozyma antarctica (PzaPAL) was identified by screening microbial genomes against known PAL sequences. PzaPAL has a significantly different substrate binding pocket with an extended loop (26 aa long) connected to the aromatic ring binding region of the active site as compared to the known PALs from eukaryotes. The general properties of recombinant PzaPAL expressed in E. coli were characterized including kinetic features of this novel PAL with l -phenylalanine (S)-1a and further racemic substituted phenylalanines rac-1b-g,k. In most cases, PzaPAL revealed significantly higher turnover numbers than the PAL from Petroselinum crispum (PcPAL). Finally, the biocatalytic performance of PzaPAL and PcPAL was compared in the kinetic resolutions of racemic phenylalanine derivatives (rac-1a-s) by enzymatic ammonia elimination and also in the enantiotope selective ammonia addition reactions to cinnamic acid derivatives (2a-s). The enantiotope selectivity of PzaPAL with o-, m-, p-fluoro-, o-, p-chloro- and o-, m-bromo-substituted cinnamic acids proved to be higher than that of PcPAL.