Continuous colorimetric screening assay for detection of d-amino acid aminotransferase mutants displaying altered substrate specificity

d-Amino acid aminotransferase (DAAT) catalyzes the synthesis of numerous d-amino acids, making it an attractive biocatalyst for the production of enantiopure d-amino acids. To bolster its biocatalytic applicability, improved variants displaying increased activity toward non-native substrates are desired. Here, we report the development of a high-throughput, colorimetric, continuous coupled enzyme assay for the screening of DAAT mutant libraries that is based on the use of d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO). In this assay, the d-amino acid product of DAAT is oxidized by DAAO with concomitant release of hydrogen peroxide, which is detected colorimetrically by the addition of horseradish peroxidase and o-dianisidine. Using this assay, we measured apparent K_M and k_cat values for DAAT and identified mutants displaying altered substrate specificity via the screening of cell lysates in 96-well plates. The DAAO coupled assay is sensitive in that it allowed the detection of a DAAT mutant displaying an approximately 2000-fold decrease in k_cat/K_M relative to wild type. In addition, the DAAO assay enabled the identification of two DAAT mutants (V33Y and V33G) that are more efficient than wild type at transaminating the non-native acceptor phenylpyruvate. We expect that this assay will be useful for the engineering of additional mutants displaying increased activity toward non-native substrates.