Issue 2, 2023

Expression of biocatalysts and their use in monomer synthesis for biodegradable polymers from acetone and CO2

Abstract

CO2 fixation, a key to solving global warming, can convert CO2 into various compounds, unlike CO2 reduction; however, it is thermodynamically challenging to fix CO2 to a simple organic molecule. This study has developed a new synthesis of β-hydroxybutyrate, a monomer of a biodegradable polymer, from CO2 and acetone using the effective biocatalysts acetone carboxylase (AC) and β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH). AC is an attractive biocatalyst that catalyzes the introduction of CO2 to acetone to form acetoacetate in the presence of the co-enzyme ATP. To make the produced unstable acetoacetate more profitable, HBDH was introduced to catalyze acetoacetate reduction to β-hydroxybutyrate in the presence of the co-enzyme NADH. Rhodobacter capsulatus SB1003, a purple nonsulfur photosynthetic bacterium, successfully expressed both AC and HBDH in the acetone–bicarbonate medium under photoheterotrophic conditions. One-pot β-hydroxybutyrate synthesis from CO2 and acetone combining AC for CO2 fixation to acetone and HBDH for acetoacetate reduction to β-hydroxybutyrate has thus been developed using a cell extract including AC and HBDH from Rb. capsulatus. The optimal reaction conditions for the one-pot β-hydroxybutyrate synthesis were found based on the enzymatic activities of AC and HBDH, and the reaction rate was successfully increased by up to three times.

Graphical abstract: Expression of biocatalysts and their use in monomer synthesis for biodegradable polymers from acetone and CO2

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 aug 2022
Accepted
23 nov 2022
First published
24 nov 2022

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023,7, 360-368

Expression of biocatalysts and their use in monomer synthesis for biodegradable polymers from acetone and CO2

Y. Kita, R. Fujii and Y. Amao, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023, 7, 360 DOI: 10.1039/D2SE01150F

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