Halohydrin dehalogenase HheC has been studied in the presence of DMSO, the most commonly used co‐solvent. A combination of experimental and computational methods was applied to elucidate the ...behaviour of this homotetrameric enzyme with a focus on its interactions with DMSO molecules. Further details can be found in the Research Article by Z. Brkljača, M. Majerić Elenkov, and co‐workers (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202201923).
Electric syntrophy between fatty acid oxidizers and methanogens through direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) is essential for balancing acidogenesis and methanogenesis in anaerobic digestion. ...Promoting DIET using electrically conductive additives proved effective in enhancing methanogenesis; however, its possibility to affect other microbial redox reactions in methanogenic systems has been little studied. This study provides the first confirmation of the electro-syntrophic coupling of sulfide oxidation to S0 with CO2-reducing methanogenesis in sulfur-rich methanogenic cultures supplemented with conductive magnetite (100–700-nm particle size). The H2S content in biogas, initially exceeding 5000 ppmv, decreased to below 1 ppmv along with an accumulation of extracellular S0 (60–70 mg/L; initially <1 mg/L) at a magnetite dose of 20 mM Fe, while there were no significant changes in methane yield. A comprehensive polyphasic approach demonstrated that the S0 formation occurs through electro-syntrophic oxidation of sulfide coupled with CO2-reducing methanogenesis, involving Methanothrix as the dominant methanogen.
Display omitted
•Magnetite supplementation completely removed H2S in biogas from sulfur-rich waste AD•S0 accumulated in the presence of magnetite and CO2-reducing methanogenic activity•DIET-coupling of sulfide oxidation to electrotrophic methanogenesis was confirmed•A new electric syntrophy between ASOBs and electrotrophic Methanothrix is proposed
Biocatalysis; Nanotechnology
•Enzyme cascades enable efficient one-pot multi-step synthesis of high-value chemicals.•Novel enzyme cascades are constructed by introducing new or engineered enzymes.•2-Step enzyme cascades are ...developed for versatile enantioselective synthesis.•Multi-step enzyme cascades are engineered to functionalise basic chemicals.•Valuable chemicals are produced sustainably from bio-based and renewable substrates.
Enzyme cascades are efficient tools to perform multi-step synthesis in one-pot in a green and sustainable manner, enabling non-natural synthesis of valuable chemicals from easily available substrates by artificially combining two or more enzymes. Bioproduction of many high-value chemicals such as chiral and highly functionalised molecules have been achieved by developing new enzyme cascades. This review summarizes recent advances on engineering and application of enzyme cascades to produce high-value chemicals (alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, carboxylic acids, etc) from simple starting materials. While 2-step enzyme cascades are developed for versatile enantioselective synthesis, multi-step enzyme cascades are engineered to functionalise basic chemicals, such as styrenes, cyclic alkanes, and aromatic compounds. New cascade reactions have also been developed for producing valuable chemicals from bio-based substrates, such as ʟ-phenylalanine, and renewable feedstocks such as glucose and glycerol. The challenges in current process and future outlooks in the development of enzyme cascades are also addressed.
Soil biota has a crucial impact on soil ecology, global climate changes, and effective crop management and studying the diverse ecological roles of dipteran larvae deepens the understanding of soil ...food webs. A multi-omics study of Pseudolycoriella hygida comb. nov. (Diptera: Sciaroidea: Sciaridae) aimed to characterize carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) for litter degradation in this species. Manual curation of 17,881 predicted proteins in the Psl. hygida genome identified 137 secreted CAZymes, of which 33 are present in the saliva proteome, and broadly confirmed by saliva CAZyme catalytic profiling against plant cell wall polysaccharides and pNP-glycosyl substrates. Comparisons with two other sciarid species and the outgroup Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) identified 42 CAZyme families defining a sciarid CAZyme profile. The litter-degrading potential of sciarids corroborates their significant role as decomposers, yields insights to the evolution of insect feeding habits, and highlights the importance of insects as a source of biotechnologically relevant enzymes.
Display omitted
•The Pseudolycoriella genome (609 Mb) encodes 17881 genes and 1022 CAZymes•The saliva proteome includes 33 of the 137 predicted secreted CAZymes•Diverse saliva CAZyme activities detected on polysaccharides and synthetic substrates•Comparison with other sciarids shows a rich conserved repertoire of secreted CAZymes
Mycology; Biocatalysis; Plant biology
