LipoBiocat

The manufacturing in the chemical industry still relies on classical chemical routes in which high temperatures and harsh reaction conditions are required. The usage of enzymes as biocatalysts can overcome this challenge and allow reactions at lower temperatures, reducing energy demand but, at the same time, increasing speed and efficiency by, for example, avoiding additional reaction steps like functional group protection. Currently, the application of biocatalysis in the synthesis routes is limited to a few single steps because there is a significant lack of enzymes showing a predictable behaviour during process development.

The LipoBiocat project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the framework of the German “National Research Strategy Bioeconomy 2030“ in the program „Tailor-made biobased ingredients for a competitive bioeconomy”, aims to provide solutions for biocatalytic challenges as identified by two important chemical industries. The usage of enzymes as biocatalysts can allow reactions at lower temperatures, reduce energy demand but, at the same time, increase speed and efficiency by, for example, avoiding additional reaction steps. However, enzymes have been evolved by nature to work in living cells and under mild reaction conditions; consequently, most enzymes do not operate properly and cost-efficiently in industrial processes with artificial substrates. LipoBiocat aims to identify and provide suitable biocatalysts by the following approaches: (i) Natural enzyme diversity will be used to identify new enzymes for the synthesis and “on demand” hydrolysis of polymers. Here, an innovative peptide-mediated adhesion technology will be established to enhance polymer binding and hydrolysis efficiency. (ii) Knowledge-based enzyme diversity will be created by applying a newly developed computational workflow to construct promiscuous and robust enzymes to serve as a blueprint for a rapid identification also of other industrially relevant enzymes.

In LipoBiocat Phase II, the project specifically addresses the globally relevant problem: the accumulation of large quantities of plastic in the environment. In recent years, the enzymatic degradation of plastic polymers has become increasingly important for science, public and the economy, as it can be used to achieve a sustainable approach to tackle this issue. So far however, only a limited number of enzymes are known that can degrade synthetic polymers. In the second phase of the project, new methods are developed to identify new enzymes capable of degrading such plastic polymers. The structural properties of the enzymes are investigated with the latest computer simulation methods to find out how the substrate turnover can be improved. Molecular biological methods (rational enzyme engineering) and enzyme blends are used to increase the effectiveness of the enzymes in the degradation of synthetic polyesters. Furthermore, the bioinformatics methods already developed in Phase I of the project are used to search for new enzymes that can degrade polyamide plastics, and new strategies for plastic pretreatment are developed in an integrated approach, which make it easier for the enzymes to access the polymer backbone. To produce the most suitable enzymes, biosensors and scalable processes are also being developed.

Thus, the LipoBiocat project delivers important contributions to making industrial biocatalysis more attractive and profitable while enabling the biocatalytic recycling of polyesters and polyamides at the same time.