Patent ID: 7556947

Claim:
A method for producing β-hydroxy amino acid of formula (III): comprising reacting a D-α-amino acid of formula (I): with 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolic acid, in the presence of formaldehyde and a protein selected from the group consisting of: (A) a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11; (B) a variant protein of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11 which is at least 95% homologous to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11, and which is able to catalyze the reaction to produce the β-hydroxy amino acid of formula (III); and wherein, R 1 is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group with 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and wherein R 3 is hydrogen, and wherein R 1 may be either linear or branched, and may have one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom, an alkyl group with up to 3 carbon atoms, an alkoxyl group with up to 3 carbon atoms, a keto group, a hydroxyl group, a thiol group, and amino group, an amido group, an imino group, and a hydrazine group.