Two-step bioconversion of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate from pyridoxine through cofactor regeneration and pyridoxine 5′-phosphate oxidase evolution

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP), a vital cofactor in cellular metabolism, is a high-value compound widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the efficient biosynthesis of PLP remains a significant challenge. In this study, we established a salvage pathway for the synthesis of PLP from pyridoxine (PN) using PN kinase (PdxK) from Salmonella enterica and pyridoxine 5′-phosphate oxidase (PdxH) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the key enzymes. To increase economic viability, an ATP regeneration system was integrated, enabling the use of AMP and polyP as substrates instead of expensive ATP. Additionally, an O 2 circulating system was incorporated to provide sufficient oxygen supply and a H 2 O 2 -free environment. PdxH was identified as the rate-limiting enzyme, so we performed directed evolution of ScPdxH through random mutagenesis coupled with high-throughput screening. The optimized mutant, ScPdxH 2−3E , exhibited a 3.4-fold increase in k cat /K m compared to the wild-type enzyme. Using a two-step bioconversion process, we achieved the production of 35.2 g/L pyridoxine 5′-phosphate (PNP) with a molar conversion of 94.7%, and 21.3 g/L PLP, corresponding to a final molar conversion yield of approximately 57.5% from PN in a 1-L bioreactor. This work demonstrates an efficient, sustainable and scalable strategy for the industrial production of PLP.