An endogenous factor enhances ferulic acid decarboxylation catalyzed by phenolic acid decarboxylase from Candida guilliermondii

Ferulic acid (FA), a derivative of 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, is found in cell walls primarily as an ester linked to lignin and other polysaccharides in cell walls, leaves and seeds of plants such as in rice, wheat, and oat [Mathew and Abraham 2004]. Bacterial phenolic acid decarboxylases (PADs), which decarboxylate FA, p-coumaric acid (PCA), and/or caffeic acid (CA) with concomitant production of 4-vinylguaiacol (4VG), 4-vinylphenol (4VP), and/or 4-vinylcatechol, respectively (see Additional file 1), are responsible for the detoxification of these 4-hydroxycinnamic acids [Huang et al. 1994,Degrassi et al. 1995,Cavin et al. 1997b,1998]. [Zago et al. (1995)] first succeeded in sequencing and expression of a bacterial PAD (FA decarboxylase from Bacillus pumilus) in Escherichia coli. The genetic mechanism of bacterial PAD expression has been well established by the discovery of PadR-mediated response to 4-hydroxycinnamic acids in Pediococcus pentosaceus [Barthelmebs et al. 2000], Bacillus subtilis [Tran et al. 2008], and Lactobacillus plantarum [Gury et al. 2009]. The 4VG formed is valuable precursor in the biotransformation of flavors and fragrances used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries [Mathew and Abraham 2006,Priefert et al. 2001]. Furthermore, this compound is sometimes present as an aroma in beers and wines [Thurston and Tubb 1981,Smit et al. 2003,Coghe et al. 2004,Oelofse et al. 2008,Sáez et al. 2010]Naturally-occurring phenolic acids are known to inhibit the growth of yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia anomala, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Candida guilliermondii (Meyerozyma guilliermondii comb. nov.; [Kurtzman and Suzuki 2010]) [Baranowski et al. 1980,Stead 1995,Pereira et al. 2011]. S. cerevisiae [Goodey and Tubb 1982,Clausen et al. 1994,Smit et al. 2003,Coghe et al. 2004], Brettanomyces bruxellensis [Godoy et al. 2008], and C. guilliermondii [Huang et al. 2011] are suggested to produce a PAD in response or relation to 4-hydroxycinna