Microbial screening for the enantiospecific production of alkyl esters of 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoic acid

This article describes our preliminary screening results of yeasts and fungi isolated from exotic environments like the Atlantic rain forest, from the roots of Araucaria angustifolia and from a Guava tree. Rhodotorula glutinis CCT 2182 and Cunninghamella echinulata CCT 4259 revealed high enantioselective reductase activities for the production of alkyl esters of (R)- and (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoic acid, respectively.