Biosynthesis of terpenoids: Efficient multistep biotransformation procedures affording isotope-labeled 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate using recombinant 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate synthase

This paper describes the recombinant expression of the ispC gene of Escheri chia coli specifying 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate synthase in a modif ied form that can be purified efficiently by metal-chelating chromatography . The enzyme was used for the preparation of isotope-labeled 2C-methyl-D-er ythritol 4-phosphate employing isotope-labeled glucose and pyruvate as star ting materials. The simple one-pot methods described afford numerous isotop omers of 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate carrying H-3, C-13, or C-14 fro m commercially available precursors. The overall yield based on the respect ive isotope-labeled starting material is approximately 50%.