Production of indirubin from tryptophan by recombinant Escherichia coli containing naphthalene dioxygenase genes from Comamonas sp. MQ

Indirubin, a red isomer of indigo, can be used for the treatment of various chronic diseases. However, the microbial production of indirubin did not receive much attention probably due to its low yield compared with indigo. In this study, the recombinant Escherichia coli containing the naphthalene dioxygenase (NDO) genes from Comamonas sp. MQ was used to produce indirubin from tryptophan. To enhance the production of indirubin, the induction conditions for NDO expression were optimized. The optimal induction conditions were carried out with 0.5 mM isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside at 30 °C when cells were grown to OD600 ≈ 1.20. Subsequently, the effects of medium composition on indirubin production were investigated by response surface methodology, and 9.37 ± 1.01 mg/l indirubin was produced from 3.28 g/l tryptophan. Meanwhile, the indirubin production was further improved by adding 2-oxindole and isatin to the tryptophan medium after induction. About 57.98 ± 2.62 mg/l indirubin was obtained by the addition of 500 mg/l 2-oxindole after 1-h induction, which was approximately 6.2-fold to that without additional 2-oxindole. The present study provided a possible way to improve the production of indirubin and should lay the foundation for the application of microbial indirubin production.