Bioconversion of ferulic acid to vanillic acid by Paenibacillus lactis SAMS-2001

Ferulic acid is an abundant cinnamic acid derivative found in the plant world and has been utilized by microorganisms to produce value-added compounds such as vanillin and vanillic acid. The isolate SAMS-2001, giving the highest vanillic acid yield, was selected and identified as Paenibacillus lactis based on its 16S rDNA sequence (GenBank accession number KF699133). Vanillic acid was found to accumulate in the minimal medium as the major product along with the transient formation of vanillin by adding yeast (0.05 %) as co-substrate. In vitro conversion of ferulic acid to vanillin and vanillic acid was also studied with the cell extract of Paenibacillus lactis SAMS-2001. This study gives the first evidence for production of vanillic acid (57.3 % molar yield) from ferulic acid within 18 h using Paenibacillus lactis SAMS-2001.