ß-Ketoadipic acid production from poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste via chemobiological upcycling.

The upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste can simultaneously produce value-added chemicals and reduce the growing environmental impact of plastic waste. In this study, we designed a chemobiological system to convert terephthalic acid (TPA), an aromatic monomer of PET, to ß-ketoadipic acid (ßKA), a C6 keto-diacid that functions as a building block for nylon-6,6 analogs. Using microwave-assisted hydrolysis in a neutral aqueous system, PET was converted to TPA with Amberlyst-15, a conventional catalyst with high conversion efficiency and reusability. The bioconversion process of TPA into ßKA used a recombinant Escherichia coli ßKA expressing two conversion modules for TPA degradation (tphAabc and tphB) and ßKA synthesis (aroY, catABC, and pcaD). To improve bioconversion, the formation of acetic acid, a deleterious factor for TPA conversion in flask cultivation, was efficiently regulated by deleting the poxB gene along with operating the bioreactor to supply oxygen. By applying two-stage fermentation consisting of the growth phase in pH 7 followed by the production phase in pH 5.5, a total of 13.61 mM ßKA was successfully produced with 96% conversion efficiency. This efficient chemobiological PET upcycling system provides a promising approach for the circular economy to acquire various chemicals from PET waste.

Microbial production of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid from lignin derivatives in an engineered Pseudomonas putida and its application for the synthesis of bio-based polyester.

Lignin valorization depends on microbial upcycling of various aromatic compounds in the form of a complex mixture, including p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. In this study, an engineered Pseudomonas putida strain utilizing lignin-derived monomeric compounds via biological funneling was developed to produce 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC), which has been considered a promising building block for bioplastics. The biosynthetic pathway for PDC production was established by introducing the heterologous ligABC genes under the promoter Ptac in a strain lacking pcaGH genes to accumulate a precursor of PDC, i.e., protocatechuic acid. Based on the culture optimization, fed-batch fermentation of the final strain resulted in 22.7 g/L PDC with a molar yield of 1.0 mol/mol and productivity of 0.21 g/L/h. Subsequent purification of PDC at high purity was successfully implemented, which was consequently applied for the novel polyester.

Chemo-Biological Upcycling of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) to Multifunctional Coating Materials.

Chemo-biological upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) developed in this study includes the following key steps: chemo-enzymatic PET depolymerization, biotransformation of terephthalic acid (TPA) into catechol, and its application as a coating agent. Monomeric units were first produced through PET glycolysis into bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET), and PET oligomers, and enzymatic hydrolysis of these glycolyzed products using Bacillus subtilis esterase (Bs2Est). Bs2Est efficiently hydrolyzed glycolyzed products into TPA as a key enzyme for chemo-enzymatic depolymerization. Furthermore, catechol solution produced from TPA via a whole-cell biotransformation (Escherichia coli) could be directly used for functional coating on various substrates after simple cell removal from the culture medium without further purification and water-evaporation. This work demonstrates a proof-of-concept of a PET upcycling strategy via a combination of chemo-biological conversion of PET waste into multifunctional coating materials.

Improving the catalytic performance of xylanase from Bacillus circulans through structure-based rational design.

Endo-1,4-ß-xylanase is one of the most important enzymes employed in biorefineries for obtaining fermentable sugars from hemicellulosic components. Herein, we aimed to improve the catalytic performance of Bacillus circulans xylanase (Bcx) using a structure-guided rational design. A systematic analysis of flexible motions revealed that the R49 component of Bcx (i) constrains the global conformational changes essential for substrate binding and (ii) is involved in modulating flexible motion. Site-saturated mutagenesis of the R49 residue led to the engineering of the active mutants with the trade-off between flexibility and rigidity. The most active mutant R49N improved the catalytic performance, including its catalytic efficiency (7.51-fold), conformational stability (0.7 °C improvement), and production of xylose oligomers (2.18-fold higher xylobiose and 1.72-fold higher xylotriose). The results discussed herein can be applied to enhance the catalytic performance of industrially important enzymes by controlling flexibility.

Improving the organic solvent resistance of lipase a from Bacillus subtilis in water-ethanol solvent through rational surface engineering.

Given that lipase is an enzyme applicable in various industrial fields and water-miscible organic solvents are important reaction media for developing industrial-scale biocatalysis, a structure-based strategy was explored to stabilize lipase A from Bacillus subtilis in a water-ethanol cosolvent. Site-directed mutagenesis of ethanol-interacting sites resulted in 4 mutants, i.e., Ser16Gly, Ala38Gly, Ala38Thr, and Leu108Asn, which were stable in 50% ethanol and had up to 1.8-fold higher stability than the wild-type. In addition, Leu108Asn was more thermostable at 45 °C than the wild type. The results discussed in this study not only provide insights into strategies for enzyme engineering to improve organic solvent resistance but also suggest perspectives on pioneering routes for constructing enzyme-based biorefineries to produce value-added fuels and chemicals.

High-Level Conversion of l-lysine into Cadaverine by Escherichia coli Whole Cell Biocatalyst Expressing Hafnia alvei l-lysine Decarboxylase.

Cadaverine is a C5 diamine monomer used for the production of bio-based polyamide 510. Cadaverine is produced by the decarboxylation of l-lysine using a lysine decarboxylase (LDC). In this study, we developed recombinant Escherichia coli strains for the expression of LDC from Hafnia alvei. The resulting recombinant XBHaLDC strain was used as a whole cell biocatalyst for the high-level bioconversion of l-lysine into cadaverine without the supplementation of isopropyl ß-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) for the induction of protein expression and pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), a key cofactor for an LDC reaction. The comparison of results from enzyme characterization of E. coli and H. alvei LDC revealed that H. alvei LDC exhibited greater bioconversion ability than E. coli LDC due to higher levels of protein expression in all cellular fractions and a higher specific activity at 37 °C (1825 U/mg protein > 1003 U/mg protein). The recombinant XBHaLDC and XBEcLDC strains were constructed for the high-level production of cadaverine. Recombinant XBHaLDC produced a 1.3-fold higher titer of cadaverine (6.1 g/L) than the XBEcLDC strain (4.8 g/L) from 10 g/L of l-lysine. Furthermore, XBHaLDC, concentrated to an optical density (OD600) of 50, efficiently produced 136 g/L of cadaverine from 200 g/L of l-lysine (97% molar yield) via an IPTG- and PLP-free whole cell bioconversion reaction. Cadaverine synthesized via a whole cell biocatalyst reaction using XBHaLDC was purified to polymer grade, and purified cadaverine was successfully used for the synthesis of polyamide 510. In conclusion, an IPTG- and PLP-free whole cell bioconversion process of l-lysine into cadaverine, using recombinant XBHaLDC, was successfully utilized for the production of bio-based polyamide 510, which has physical and thermal properties similar to polyamide 510 synthesized from chemical-grade cadaverine.