The ongoing trends to process improvements, cost reductions and increasing quality, safety, health and environment requirements of industrial chemical transformations have strengthened the ...translation of global biocatalysis research work into industrial applications. One focus has been on biocatalytic single-step reactions with one or two substrates, the identification of bottlenecks and molecular as well as engineering approaches to overcome these bottlenecks. Robust industrial procedures have been established along classes of biocatalytic single-step reactions. Multi-step reactions and multi-component reactions (MCRs) enable a bottom-up approach with biocatalytic reactions working together in one compartment and recations hindering each other within different compartments or steps. The understanding of the catalytic functions of known and new enzymes is key for the development of new sustainable chemical transformations.
Phosphorus-containing metabolites cover a large molecular diversity and represent an important domain of small molecules which are highly relevant for life and represent essential interfaces between ...biology and chemistry, between the biological and abiotic world. The large but not unlimited amount of phosphate minerals on our planet is a key resource for living organisms on our planet, while the accumulation of phosphorus-containing waste is associated with negative effects on ecosystems. Therefore, resource-efficient and circular processes receive increasing attention from different perspectives, from local and regional levels to national and global levels. The molecular and sustainability aspects of a global phosphorus cycle have become of much interest for addressing the phosphorus biochemical flow as a high-risk planetary boundary. Knowledge of balancing the natural phosphorus cycle and the further elucidation of metabolic pathways involving phosphorus is crucial. This requires not only the development of effective new methods for practical discovery, identification, and high-information content analysis, but also for practical synthesis of phosphorus-containing metabolites, for example as standards, as substrates or products of enzymatic reactions, or for discovering novel biological functions. The purpose of this article is to review the advances which have been achieved in the synthesis and analysis of phosphorus-containing metabolites which are biologically active.
Reactions involving the transfer of phosphorus-containing groups are of key importance for maintaining life, from biological cells, tissues and organs to plants, animals, humans, ecosystems and the ...whole planet earth. The sustainable utilization of the nonrenewable element phosphorus is of key importance for a balanced phosphorus cycle. Significant advances have been achieved in highly selective and efficient biocatalytic phosphorylation reactions, fundamental and applied aspects of phosphorylation biocatalysts, novel phosphorylation biocatalysts, discovery methodologies and tools, analytical and synthetic applications, useful phosphoryl donors and systems for their regeneration, reaction engineering, product recovery and purification. Biocatalytic phosphorylation reactions with complete conversion therefore provide an excellent reaction platform for valuable analytical and synthetic applications.
The architecture, organization, and functioning of biocatalytic reaction networks, which are coded in the cell-specific genome and which work together in the small space of biological cells, are a ...fascinating feature of life evolved over more than 3 billion years. Knowledge about the diversity of biocatalytic functions and metabolic pathways sustaining life on our planet is highly important, especially as the currently occurring loss of biodiversity is considered a planetary boundary that is at high risk, and knowledge about the life of current biological organisms should be gained before they become extinct. In addition to the well-known enzymatic reactions involved in biochemical pathways, the enzyme universe offers numerous opportunities for discovering novel functions and pathways. Maintaining thousands of molecules and reactions functioning properly within biological cells, which may be exposed to various kinds of external hazards, environmental stress, enzymatic side reactions, or non-enzymatic chemical reactions, is key for keeping cellular life healthy. This review aims to outline advances in assigning enzyme functions to protein sequences and the discovery of novel biocatalytic functions and pathways.
Methodologies for the synthesis and purification of metabolites, which have been developed following their discovery, analysis, and structural identification, have been involved in numerous life ...science milestones. The renewed focus on the small molecule domain of biological cells has also created an increasing awareness of the rising gap between the metabolites identified and the metabolites which have been prepared as pure compounds. The design and engineering of resource-efficient and straightforward synthetic methodologies for the production of the diverse and numerous metabolites and metabolite-like compounds have attracted much interest. The variety of metabolic pathways in biological cells provides a wonderful blueprint for designing simplified and resource-efficient synthetic routes to desired metabolites. Therefore, biocatalytic systems have become key enabling tools for the synthesis of an increasing number of metabolites, which can then be utilized as standards, enzyme substrates, inhibitors, or other products, or for the discovery of novel biological functions.
•Elemental resource efficiency and recycling become a strategic necessity•Global biogeochemical and anthropogenic cycles and flows of key elements are essential•Measurement of the sustainable ...development of economies•Bioprocesses can support the reengineering of processes in the transition to sustainable cycles•Value creation architectures for selected bio-economy markets and beyond
Value is created by anthropogenic and natural bioprocesses in numerous ways. A common feature of optimized bioprocesses is the efficient utilization of resources, robust flow of products and reliable removal of byproducts or waste causing damages. Resource efficiency is related to molecular and engineering aspects at different scales of space and time. In a biological context, the micro-perspective is key for the creation and preservation of value by adequate functioning of bioprocesses, which is not only relevant for viable production but also for vital functions in human health. Restoring after loss of function, caused for example by inherited or acquired diseases, is therefore of key importance in avoiding the loss of value. Even more challenging are symbiotic biological consortia and ecosystems. In an economic context, the micro-perspective is the prerequisite for the success of any undertaking, from small businesses financed by microcredits to large multinational corporations owned by shareholders.
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Highlights • Use of microprocesses for rapid process development. • Improved microprocess design via use of computational tools. • New microprocess control via advanced on-line microsensors. • New ...microbioprocesses offer continuous, intensified, and integrated processing.
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•Contributions of bioconversions, biocatalytic synthesis and manufacturing to the bioeconomy.•Advances in biocatalytic one-step reaction platforms.•Advances in biocatalytic multi-step ...reactions.•Advances in biocatalytic total synthesis.•Outlook and perspectives for biocatalysis.
In the area of human-made innovations to improve the quality of life, biocatalysis has already had a great impact and contributed enormously to a growing number of catalytic transformations aimed at the detection and analysis of compounds, the bioconversion of starting materials and the preparation of target compounds at any scale, from laboratory small scale to industrial large scale. The key enabling tools which have been developed in biocatalysis over the last decades also provide great opportunities for further development and numerous applications in various sectors of the global bioeconomy. Systems biocatalysis is a modular, bottom-up approach to designing the architecture of enzyme-catalyzed reaction steps in a synthetic route from starting materials to target molecules. The integration of biocatalysis and sustainable chemistry in vitro aims at ideal conversions with high molecular economy and their intensification. Retrosynthetic analysis in the chemical and biological domain has been a valuable tool for target-oriented synthesis while, on the other hand, diversity-oriented synthesis builds on forward-looking analysis. Bioinformatic tools for rapid identification of the required enzyme functions, efficient enzyme production systems, as well as generalized bioprocess design tools, are important for rapid prototyping of the biocatalytic reactions. The tools for enzyme engineering and the reaction engineering of each enzyme-catalyzed one-step reaction are also valuable for coupling reactions. The tools to overcome interaction issues with other components or enzymes are of great interest in designing multi-step reactions as well as in biocatalytic total synthesis.
The biosynthesis of metabolites from available starting materials is becoming an ever important area due to the increasing demands within the life science research area. Access to metabolites is ...making essential contributions to analytical, diagnostic, therapeutic and different industrial applications. These molecules can be synthesized by the enzymes of biological systems under sustainable process conditions. The facile synthetic access to the metabolite and metabolite-like molecular space is of fundamental importance. The increasing knowledge within molecular biology, enzyme discovery and production together with their biochemical and structural properties offers excellent opportunities for using modular cell-free biocatalytic systems. This reduces the complexity of synthesizing metabolites using biological whole-cell approaches or by classical chemical synthesis. A systems biocatalysis approach can provide a wealth of optimized enzymes for the biosynthesis of already identified and new metabolite molecules.
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