Genome mining of 2-phenylethanol biosynthetic genes from Enterobacter sp CGMCC 5087 and heterologous overproduction in Escherichia coli

Background 2-Phenylethanol (2-PE) is a higher aromatic alcohol that is widely used in the perfumery, cosmetics, and food industries and is also a potentially valuable next-generation biofuel. In our previous study, a new strain Enterobacter sp. CGMCC 5087 was isolated to produce 2-PE from glucose through the phenylpyruvate pathway.