Production of Flavonoid 7-O-glucosides by Bioconversion Using Escherichia coli Expressing a 7-O-glucosyltransferase from Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).

Flavonoid 7-O-glucosides exhibit various biological activities; however, some are not abundant in nature. Therefore, a method to produce flavonoid 7-O-glucosides was investigated. Escherichia coli expressing tobacco-derived glucosyltransferase (Ec-NtGT2) converted several flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, and naringenin) to their 7-O-glucosides with conversion rates of 67-98%. In scaled-up production, Ec-NtGT2 yielded 24 mg/L of apigenin 7-O-glucoside, 41 mg/L of luteolin 7-O-glucoside, 118 mg/L of quercetin 7-O-glucoside, 40 mg/L of kaempferol 7-O-glucoside, and 75 mg/L of naringenin 7-O-glucoside through sequential administration of substrates in 4-9 h. The conversion rates of apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, and naringenin were 97%, 72%, 77%, 98%, and 96%, respectively. These results indicated that Ec-NtGT2 is a simple and efficient bioconversion system for the production of flavonoid 7-O-glucosides.