Robust production of gamma-amino butyric acid using recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum expressing glutamate decarboxylase from Escherichia coli

Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) is a component of pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and the biodegradable plastic polyamide 4. Here, we report a simple and robust system to produce GABA from glucose using the recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum strain GAD, which expresses GadB, a glutamate decarboxylase encoded by the gadB gene of Escherichia coli W3110. As confirmed by HPLC analysis, GABA fermentation by C. glutamicum GAD cultured at 30 °C in GABA Production 1 (GP1) medium containing 50 g/L glucose without the addition of glutamate yielded 8.07 ± 1.53 g/L extracellular GABA after 96 h. Addition of 0.1 mM pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) was found to enhance the production of GABA, whereas Tween 40 was unnecessary for GABA fermentation. Using the optimized GABA Production 2 (GP2) medium, which contained 50 g/L glucose and 0.1 mM PLP, fermentation was performed in a flask at 30 °C with 10% (v/v) seed culture of C. glutamicum GAD. GABA was produced in the culture supernatant with a yield of 12.37 ± 0.88 g/L after 72 h with a space–time yield of 0.172 g/L/h, which is the highest yield obtained to date for GABA from fermentation with glucose as a main carbon source.

► GABA was produced directly from glucose by C. glutamicum expressing E. coli GadB.
► Without added glutamate, GABA productivity reached 12.3 g/L in culture supernatant.
► Addition of PLP to the medium was found to enhance the production of GABA.
► By using C. glutamicum GAD, GABA was produced in a maximum yield of 0.17 g/L/h.