Carbonyl reductases, polynucleotides comprising dna encoding the same, methods for producing the same, and methods for producing optically active alcohol utilizing the same

Abstract

An objective of the present invention is to provide methods for efficiently producing (S)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propanol at a high optical purity. Another objective is to provide novel reductases which reduce 3,4-dimethoxyphenylacetone, using NADPH as a coenzyme, to produce (S)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propanol with a high optical purity. The inventors found that a 3,4-dimethoxyphenylacetone-reducing enzyme present inis a novel carbonyl reductase that reduces various carbonyls. This novel enzyme reduces 3,4-dimethoxyphenylacetone in a reduction reaction to produce (S)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propanol with a high optical purity and at a high yield. Furthermore, the inventors isolated a DNA that encodes the present enzyme, and generated a recombinant bacterium which highly expresses the present enzyme. Thus, the present inventors established a simple and highly economical method of obtaining optically active alcohols with a high optical purity and at a high yield.