Generation of aroE overexpression mutant of Bacillus megaterium for the production of shikimic acid

BACKGROUND: Shikimic acid, the sole chemical building block for the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu®), is one of the potent pharmaceutical intermediates with three chiral centers. Here we report a metabolically engineered recombinant Bacillus megaterium strain with aroE (shikimate dehydrogenase) overexpression for the production of shikimic acid. RESULTS: In a 7 L bioreactor, 4.2 g/L shikimic acid was obtained using the recombinant strain over 0.53 g/L with the wild type. The enhancement of total shikimate dehydrogenase activity was 2.13-fold higher than the wild type. Maximum yield of shikimic acid (12.54 g/L) was obtained with fructose as carbon source. It was isolated from the fermentation broth using amberlite IRA-400 resin and 89 % purity of the product was achieved. CONCLUSION: This will add up a new organism in the armory for the fermentation based production which is better over plant based extraction and chemical synthesis of shikimic acid. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-015-0251-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.