Valorization of cheese whey to lactobionic acid by a novel strain Pseudomonas fragi and identification of enzyme involved in lactose oxidation

BACKGROUND: Efficient upgrading of inferior agro-industrial resources and production of bio-based chemicals through a simple and environmentally friendly biotechnological approach is interesting Lactobionic acid is a versatile aldonic acid obtained from the oxidation of lactose. Several microorganisms have been used to produce lactobionic acid from lactose and whey. However, the lactobionic acid production titer and productivity should be further improved to compete with other methods. RESULTS: In this study, a new strain, Pseudomonas fragi NL20W, was screened as an outstanding biocatalyst for efficient utilization of waste whey to produce lactobionic acid. After systematic optimization of biocatalytic reactions, the lactobionic acid productivity from lactose increased from 3.01 g/L/h to 6.38 g/L/h in the flask. In batch fermentation using a 3 L bioreactor, the lactobionic acid productivity from whey powder containing 300 g/L lactose reached 3.09 g/L/h with the yield of 100%. Based on whole genome sequencing, a novel glucose dehydrogenase (GDH1) was determined as a lactose-oxidizing enzyme. Heterologous expression the enzyme GDH1 into P. putida KT2440 increased the lactobionic acid yield by 486.1%. CONCLUSION: This study made significant progress both in improving lactobionic acid titer and productivity, and the lactobionic acid productivity from waste whey is superior to the ever reports. This study also revealed a new kind of aldose-oxidizing enzyme for lactose oxidation using P. fragi NL20W for the first time, which laid the foundation for further enhance lactobionic acid production by metabolic engineering. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-022-01907-0.