3-(2-Hydroxyethyl)catechol (HEC) is a polyphenol reported to exhibit skin-lightning and antioxidative effects, and hence is expected to be used as cosmetic and food additives and chemical products such as electronic materials. In this study, we established biocatalytic HEC production from 2-phenylethanol using the dioxygenase whose expression was induced by toluene, CumA, and its flanking dehydrogenase, CumB, from an isolated strain, Pseudomonas sp. K17. Escherichia coli cells coexpressing CumA and CumB were stained blue during cultivation in Luria–Bertani medium, and HEC was not produced upon using the cell-free extracts as biocatalysts, likely resulting from the inhibitory effects of the blue dyes. The disruption of the tryptophanase gene of E. coli was found to repress the generation of the blue dyes, and enhanced HEC production. The blue dyes were extracted from the cell-free extracts, and their molecular formula was C₁₆H₁₀N₂O₃, suggesting they were monooxygenated indigo or its isomers. Although repression of blue dye formation and enhancement of HEC production were observed when cells were cultivated with glucose, the percent yield of HEC was 84% at 20 h, whereas that with tryptophanase disruption strain was 84% at 4 h. It was suggested that tryptophanase gene disruption could contribute to more efficient HEC production.

3-(2-Hydroxyethyl)catechol (HEC) 是一种多酚，据报道具有亮肤和抗氧化作用，因此有望用作化妆品和食品添加剂以及电子材料等化学产品。在这项研究中，我们使用双加氧酶从 2-苯基乙醇建立了生物催化 HEC 生产，该酶的表达由甲苯诱导，CumA 及其侧翼脱氢酶 CumB，来自分离菌株，假单胞菌。K17。在 Luria-Bertani 培养基中培养期间，共表达 CumA 和 CumB 的大肠杆菌细胞被染成蓝色，并且在使用无细胞提取物作为生物催化剂时不会产生 HEC，这可能是由于蓝色染料的抑制作用。大肠杆菌色氨酸酶基因的破坏发现抑制蓝色染料的产生，并增强 HEC 的产生。蓝色染料是从无细胞提取物中提取的，其分子式为C ₁₆ H ₁₀ N ₂ O ₃，表明它们是单氧化靛蓝或其异构体。虽然在用葡萄糖培养细胞时观察到蓝色染料形成的抑制和 HEC 产生的增强，但 HEC 的百分比产率在 20 小时时为 84%，而色氨酸酶破坏菌株在 4 小时时为 84%。有人提出色氨酸酶基因破坏可能有助于更有效的 HEC 生产。