Creation of a broad-range and highly stereoselective D-amino acid dehydrogenase for the one-step synthesis of D-amino acids

Using both rational and random mutagenesis, we have created the first known broad substrate range, nicotinamide cofactor dependent, and highly stereoselective D-amino acid dehydrogenase. This new enzyme is capable of producing D-amino acids via the reductive amination of the corresponding 2-keto acid with ammonia. This biocatalyst was the result of three rounds of mutagenesis and screening performed on the enzyme meso-diaminopimelate D-dehydrogenase. The first round targeted the active site of the wild-type enzyme and produced mutants that were no longer strictly dependent on the native substrate. The second and third rounds produced mutants that had an increased substrate range including straight-and branched-aliphatic amino acids and aromatic amino acids. The very high selectivity toward the D-enantiomer ( 95 to > 99% ee) was shown to be preserved even after the addition of the five mutations found in the three rounds of mutagenesis and screening. This new enzyme could complement and improve upon current methods for D-amino acid synthesis.