Biosynthesis of anti-HCV compounds using thermophilic microorganisms

This work describes the application of thermophilic microorganisms for obtaining 6-halogenated purine nucleosides. Biosynthesis of 6-chloropurine-2′-deoxyriboside and 6-chloropurine riboside was achieved by Geobacillus stearothermophilus CECT 43 with a conversion of 90% and 68%, respectively. Furthermore, the selected microorganism was satisfactorily stabilized by immobilization in an agarose matrix. This biocatalyst can be reused at least 70 times without significant loss of activity, obtaining 379 mg/L of 6-chloropurine-2′-deoxyriboside. The obtained compounds can be used as antiviral agents.