A group around Prof. Zhongliu WU identified Achromobacter sp. JA81 which can reduce (Z)-3-cyano-3-phenyl-propenoic acid to (R)-3-cyano-3-phenyl- propanoic acid with 70% yield and good enantioselectivity (90% ee). By sequencing and annotating the genome and cloning candidate genes into E. coli, the enoate reductase responsible for this reaction could be identified.

Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., Sept. 27, 2012