Towards synthetic PETtrophy: Engineering Pseudomonas putida for concurrent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) monomer metabolism and PET hydrolase expression.

Biocatalysis offers a promising path for plastic waste management and valorization, especially for hydrolysable plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Microbial whole-cell biocatalysts for simultaneous PET degradation and growth on PET monomers would offer a one-step solution toward PET recycling or upcycling. We set out to engineer the industry-proven bacterium Pseudomonas putida for (i) metabolism of PET monomers as sole carbon sources, and (ii) efficient extracellular expression of PET hydrolases. We pursued this approach for both PET and the related polyester polybutylene adipate co-terephthalate (PBAT), aiming to learn about the determinants and potential applications of bacterial polyester-degrading biocatalysts. P. putida was engineered to metabolize the PET and PBAT monomer terephthalic acid (TA) through genomic integration of four tphII operon genes from Comamonas sp. E6. Efficient cellular TA uptake was enabled by a point mutation in the native P. putida membrane transporter MhpT. Metabolism of the PET and PBAT monomers ethylene glycol and 1,4-butanediol was achieved through adaptive laboratory evolution. We then used fast design-build-test-learn cycles to engineer extracellular PET hydrolase expression, including tests of (i) the three PET hydrolases LCC, HiC, and IsPETase; (ii) genomic versus plasmid-based expression, using expression plasmids with high, medium, and low cellular copy number; (iii) three different promoter systems; (iv) three membrane anchor proteins for PET hydrolase cell surface display; and (v) a 30-mer signal peptide library for PET hydrolase secretion. PET hydrolase surface display and secretion was successfully engineered but often resulted in host cell fitness costs, which could be mitigated by promoter choice and altering construct copy number. Plastic biodegradation assays with the best PET hydrolase expression constructs genomically integrated into our monomer-metabolizing P. putida strains resulted in various degrees of plastic depolymerization, although self-sustaining bacterial growth remained elusive. Our results show that balancing extracellular PET hydrolase expression with cellular fitness under nutrient-limiting conditions is a challenge. The precise knowledge of such bottlenecks, together with the vast array of PET hydrolase expression tools generated and tested here, may serve as a baseline for future efforts to engineer P. putida or other bacterial hosts towards becoming efficient whole-cell polyester-degrading biocatalysts.

Brandenberg OF ，Schubert OT ，Kruglyak L 《Microbial Cell Factories》

Valorization of Polyethylene Terephthalate to Muconic Acid by Engineering Pseudomonas Putida.

Liu P ，Zheng Y ，Yuan Y ，Zhang T ，Li Q ，Liang Q ，Su T ，Qi Q ... -  《INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES》

Integration of ARTP Mutation and Adaptive Laboratory Evolution to Reveal 1,4-Butanediol Degradation in Pseudomonas putida KT2440.

Qian X ，Xin K ，Zhang L ，Zhou J ，Xu A ，Dong W ，Jiang M ... -  《Microbiology Spectrum》

Structural insight and engineering of a plastic degrading hydrolase Ple629.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most abundantly produced synthetic polyesters. The vast number of waste plastics including PET has challenged the waste management sector while also posing a serious threat to the environment due to improper littering. Recently, enzymatic PET degradation has been shown to be a viable option for a circular plastic economy, which can mitigate the plastic pollution. While protein engineering studies on specific PET degradation enzymes such as leaf-branch compost cutinase (LCC), Thermobifida sp. cutinases and Ideonella sakaiensis PETase (IsPETase) have been extensively published, other homologous PET degrading enzymes have received less attention. Ple629 is a polyester hydrolase identified from marine microbial consortium having activity on PET and the bioplastic polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT). In order to explore its catalytic mechanism and improve its potential for PET hydrolysis, we solved its crystal structure in complex with a PET monomer analogue, and validated its structural and mechanistic similarity to known PET hydrolases. By structural comparisons, we identified some hot spot positions described in previous research on protein engineering of PET hydrolases. We substitute these amino acid residues in Ple629, and obtained variants with improved activity and thermo-stability. The most promising variant D226A/S279A exhibited a more than 5.5-fold improved activity on PET nanoparticles than the wild-type enzyme, suggesting its potential applicability in the biotechnological plastic recycling.

Li Z ，Zhao Y ，Wu P ，Wang H ，Li Q ，Gao J ，Qin HM ，Wei H ，Bornscheuer UT ，Han X ，Wei R ，Liu W ... -  《-》

Towards bio-upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate.

Over 359 million tons of plastics were produced worldwide in 2018, with significant growth expected in the near future, resulting in the global challenge of end-of-life management. The recent identification of enzymes that degrade plastics previously considered non-biodegradable opens up opportunities to steer the plastic recycling industry into the realm of biotechnology. Here, the sequential conversion of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into two types of bioplastics is presented: a medium chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and a novel bio-based poly(amide urethane) (bio-PU). PET films are hydrolyzed by a thermostable polyester hydrolase yielding highly pure terephthalate and ethylene glycol. The obtained hydrolysate is used directly as a feedstock for a terephthalate-degrading Pseudomonas umsongensis GO16, also evolved to efficiently metabolize ethylene glycol, to produce PHA. The strain is further modified to secrete hydroxyalkanoyloxy-alkanoates (HAAs), which are used as monomers for the chemo-catalytic synthesis of bio-PU. In short, a novel value-chain for PET upcycling is shown that circumvents the costly purification of PET monomers, adding technological flexibility to the global challenge of end-of-life management of plastics.

Tiso T ，Narancic T ，Wei R ，Pollet E ，Beagan N ，Schröder K ，Honak A ，Jiang M ，Kenny ST ，Wierckx N ，Perrin R ，Avérous L ，Zimmermann W ，O'Connor K ，Blank LM ... -  《-》