Threonine deaminase (TD, EC 4.3.1.19) mediates α,βelimination (deamination), which has untapped potential in the synthesis of unnatural α-keto acids. However, the narrow substrate scope of wild-type TD limits its application. This issue could be overcome by engineering the substrate tunnel of the enzyme. Here, Corynebacterium glutamicum TD (CgTD) was used as a model, and its substrate tunnel was identified as a gating element. On the basis of the gating characteristics and constitution of the substrate access tunnel of CgTD, an "open-gate" strategy was developed to improve its substrate scope toward bulky substrates. The best variant obtained following this approach, CgTD Mu7 , exhibited 90.6-fold greater catalytic efficiency (k cat / K M ) toward a bulky substrate such as phenylserine. The improvement was due to more efficient substrate coupling, deprotonation, and imine hydrolysis. CgTD Mu7 was used for efficient production of both natural and unnatural α-keto acids, including 2-oxobutyric acid (83.4 g L −1 , 99% conversion), phenylpyruvic acid (72.5 g L −1 , 95% conversion), 2-oxovaleric acid (21.1 g L −1 , 91% conversion), and 2-oxo-4-phenylbutyric acid (29.9 g L −1 , 84% conversion). The proposed strategy provides a theoretical basis for the synthesis of α-keto acids and is also effective for engineering other similar enzymes.