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In pyridine nucleotide‐dependent, reductive whole cell biotransformation with resting cells of Escherichia coli, the availability of intracellular NAD(P)(H) is a pivotal point for an efficient and highly productive substrate conversion. The question whether an increase of the intracellular NAD(P)(H) concentration could increase the productivity was discussed controversially in the past. This is the first report on an E. coli strain with an increased NAD(P)(H) pool which was tested in a reductive biotransformation system for an increased productivity. Biotransformation was performed with a strain overexpressing a gene encoding an (R)‐specific alcohol dehydrogenase for the stereospecific, NADPH‐dependent reduction of methyl acetoacetate (MAA) to (R)‐methyl‐3‐hydroxybutanoate (MHB). Cofactor regeneration was implemented via glucose oxidation by coexpression of a gene encoding glucose dehydrogenase. The specific MHB productivity (mmol mg–1 cell dry weight–1h–1) enabled a comparison between the E. coli BL21(DE3) wild‐type and a genetically modified strain. The enhancement of the NAD(P)(H) pool was achieved by genetic manipulation of the NAD(H) biosynthetic pathways. After simultaneous overexpression of the pncB and nadE genes, encoding nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase and NAD synthetase, measurements of the total NAD(P)(H) pool, sizes showed a 7‐fold and 2‐fold increased intracellular concentration of NAD(H) and NADP(H), respectively. However, the implementation of an E. coli strain carrying a genomically integrated pncB gene with an upstream T7 promoter for biotransformation did not result in reproducible increased specific cell productivity.

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