Bioconversions microbial hydroxylation

A fermentation process was developed for the production of epothilone B, and the titer of epothilone B was increased by a continuous feed of sodium propionate during fermentation. The inclusion of XAD-16 resin during fermentation to adsorb epothilone B and to carry out volume reduction made the recovery of product very simple (Benigni et al., 2004). A microbial hydroxylation process was developed for the conversion of epothilone B (10) to epothilone F (11) by Amycolatopsis orientalis SC 15847. A bioconversion yield of 37-47 % was obtained when the process was scaled up to 100-250 L. Recently, epothilone B hydroxylase and the ferredoxin gene have been cloned and expressed in Streptomyces rimosus from Amycolatopsis orientalis SC 15847 by our colleagues in Bristol-Myers Squibb. Mutants and variants thereof this cloned enzyme has been used in the hydroxylation of epothilone B to epothilone F to obtain even higher yields of product (Basch et al, 2004). 

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