Continuous production of gamma aminobutyric acid by engineered and immobilized Escherichia coli whole-cells in a small-scale reactor system

γ-Amino butyric acid (GABA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid and a human neurotransmitter. Recently, increasing demand for food additives and biodegradable bioplastic monomers, such as nylon 4, has been reported. Consequently, considerable efforts have been made to produce GABA through fermentation and bioconversion. To realize bioconversion, wild-type or recombinant strains harboring glutamate decarboxylase were paired with the cheap starting material monosodium glutamate, resulting in less by-product formation and faster production compared to fermentation. To increase the reusability and stability of whole-cell production systems, this study used an immobilization and continuous production system with a small-scale continuous reactor for gram-scale production. The cation type, alginate concentration, barium concentration, and whole-cell concentration in the beads were optimized and this optimization resulted in more than 95 % conversion of 600 mM monosodium glutamate to GABA in 3 h and reuse of the immobilized cells 15 times, whereas free cells lost all activity after the ninth reaction. When a continuous production system was applied after optimizing the buffer concentration, substrate concentration, and flow rate, 165 g of GABA was produced after 96 h of continuous operation in a 14-mL scale reactor. Our work demonstrates the efficient and economical production of GABA by immobilization and continuous production in a small-scale reactor. •GABA producing engineered E. coli whole-cells are immobilized by barium-alginate.•All of 600 mM substrate is converted to GABA after optimizing various conditions.•A 14-mL continuous reactor capable of continuous GABA production is constructed.•165 g of GABA is produced after 96 h of continuous operation in a 14-mL reactor.