Acetyl-coenzyme
A (acetyl-CoA) is an important donor for acetylation
modifications of nutritional supplements. The existing enzymatic methods
for acetyl-CoA synthesis suffer from cofactor dependence, donor inaccessibility,
and biocatalyst instability, leading to its high cost. Hence, a promising
alternative is highly desired. Herein, a maltose O-acetyltransferase (MAT) with cofactor independence had been identified
as a stable acetyl-CoA-synthesizing biocatalyst in a screen of the Escherichia coli genome. Under the action of MAT,
an anthraquinone medicine containing two acetyl groups, diacerein,
was screened as an acetyl donor. Saturation mutagenesis at Glu125
was performed to increase the acetyl-CoA-synthesizing capacity of
MAT, while decreasing the accompanying hydrolase activities. A mutant
MAT-E125F was thus generated and could convert diacerein and CoA into
the highest yield of 3892.70 mg/L acetyl-CoA. Moreover, MAT could
synthesize puerarin 6″-O-acetate and other
glycosyl esters through acetyl-CoA-dependent acetylation or diacerein-based
transesterification reaction. To most of the tested glycosides, the
transesterification efficiency was higher than that of acetylation.
The mutant MAT-E125V acquired the highest conversion of 94.0% to puerarin
6″-O-acetate through transesterification,
while MAT-E125N yielded the highest conversion of 68.5% through acetylation.
Taking together, the multifunctional MAT displayed a potent acetyl-CoA-
and glycosyl ester-synthesizing capacity using diacerein as an acetyl
donor.