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Role of Enzymes in Bioremediation of Organic Pollutants
Published in M.H. Fulekar, Bhawana Pathak, Bioremediation Technology, 2020
Smita Chaudhry, Rashmi Paliwal
Metabolic engineering is the process of improving the production of specific cellular compounds, such as enzymes, by optimizing the genetic and regulatory systems. In the field of bioremediation or biodegradation of toxicants, the metabolic engineering involves the enhancement of metabolic capacity of microorganisms. The improvement of metabolic capability is usually done by combining the metabolic activities of different organisms in a single microbial cell. The degradation of methylphenols and methylbenzoates by combining the five different catabolic pathways from three different bacteria in a single bacterium has been reported by Rojo et al. (1987). Oxygenases are known for their important role in the degradation of a wide range of organic contaminants and are being considered as potentially targeted enzymes for metabolic engineering. Haro and deLorenzo (2001) have prepared a gene cassette by assembling dioxygenase of Pseudomonas putida F1, benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase (encoded by xylB), and benzaldehyde dehydrogenase (xylC) of P.putida mt-2 in separate mini-Tn5 transposon vectors. This gene cassette has been used to construct Pseudomonas strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA142 and P. aeruginosa JB) genetically designed for the degradation of the recalcitrant compound 2-chlorotoluene. Lei et al. (2017) have isolated the carbendazim hydrolyzing enzyme gene from Microbacteriumsp. djl-6F and cloned into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) to increase the levels of the enzyme. The enzyme was found to hydrolyze carbendazim into 2-aminobenzimidazole.
Machine Learning in Metabolic Engineering
Published in Shampa Sen, Leonid Datta, Sayak Mitra, Machine Learning and IoT, 2018
Metabolic engineering is rapidly becoming an important parcel of upstream processing in various bioprocess industries. At present, however, research in the field of metabolic engineering is hampered by the huge amount of time taken to perform various experiments, and the need for a sophisticated and expensive experimental setup, and the attached costs. Machine learning methodologies are able to help in this regard, as they allow the engineer to predict outcome of strain optimization procedures, thus eliminating the need for redundant “trial-and-error” experiments for every strain being employed by the industry. Once an optimized strain is designed by in silico means, it can be validated in vitro by experimental means, and the same algorithm can be reused for optimizing another taxonomically similar strain, both of which share similar metabolic features. In this way, the machine is trained to virtually engineer the cellular metabolism for every varied input (wild-type strain). However, as of now, machine-learning techniques are mostly limited to analysis of metabolomics data. Hence, there is a long way to go before computer science can effectively play an integral part in biological sciences for the ease of research and production processes in multiple industries. This gap can be bridged by making more and researchers and industry stakeholders aware of the huge potential of metabolic engineering approaches in the reduction of costs, while enhancing productivity of bioprocess industries. Moreover, a common platform needs to be developed for effective communication between biochemical engineers and computer science engineers.
Selection and Improvement of Industrial Organisms for Biotechnological Applications
Published in Nduka Okafor, Benedict C. Okeke, Modern Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2017
Nduka Okafor, Benedict C. Okeke
Metabolic engineering is the science which enables the rational designing or redesigning of metabolic pathways of an organism through the manipulation of the genes so as to maximize the production of biotechnological goods. In metabolic engineering, existing pathways are modified or entirely new ones introduced through the manipulation of the genes so as to improve the yields of the microbial product, eliminate or reduce undesirable side products, or shift to the production of an entirely new product.
Catalysts used in biodiesel production: a review
Published in Biofuels, 2021
One way to solve this problem is immobilization of enzymes, including polymeric supports, colloidal supports, powdered materials, metallic and glass surfaces, carbon nanotubes, and porous and non-porous inorganic materials (such as mesoporous silicates, mesocellular foam and so on) [130–132]. Mesoporous materials can accommodate proteins and biomolecules in their inside pores by entrapping and on the outer surface by covalent bonding, and cause stability in methanol [130,133]. Other methods are the use of whole‐cell biocatalysts, or the use of cell‐surface display technologies and metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of biodiesel [129]. A number of lipase sources are presented in Table 9.
An overview of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of starchy and lignocellulosic biomass for bio-ethanol production
Published in Biofuels, 2019
The biological process is preferable as it offers a number of advantages for converting biomass into bio-ethanol. As enzyme based reactions are substrate specific, it is capable of catalyzing a specific reaction, and so it minimizes the formation of unwanted degradation products and by-products [50]. To fulfill the huge demand for ethanol, technological advancement has been necessitated due to the lack of alternative feedstock and the limitations of conventional feedstock for bio-ethanol production. Advances through metabolic engineering and genetic engineering have led to the improvement of microorganisms highly capable of converting biomass sugars into ethanol. Through such attempts, strains have been developed to utilize biomass such as arabinose or xylose for bio-ethanol production although initially they cannot ferment sugars other than glucose. Examples of such microorganisms include Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces sp. [51,52] and Zymomonas mobilis [53,54]. Similarly for the cellulosic ethanol industry, most efforts have concentrated on obtaining recombinant strains of bacteria and yeast which ferment pentose sugars, such as xylose and arabinose. Biofuel is produced by direct blending of bioethanol and diesel fuel and has the advantage of reducing particulate emissions combined with low production cost. The biggest drawback is that ethanol is ordinarily immiscible with diesel fuel, thus the process requires the presence of surfactants. Research efforts have been directed toward the development of new strains allied with the design of novel reactors and high yielding processes, in order to increase the process efficiency and productivity and reduce the production cost and time.
Analytical methods in fatty acid analysis for microbial applications: the recent trends
Published in Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2021
Mohammad Homayoonfar, Reza Roosta Azad, Soroush Sardari
On the other hand, concerns about substituting a sustainable fuel sources and precursors for various chemicals have shifted the paradigm on the production of fatty acid derived compounds. So, the role of metabolic engineering for the development of productive microbial cell factories in this aspect is undeniable. Significant number of studies have been conducted in this aspect which all end up with more microbial production of fatty acids and their derivatives. A recent review of these studies can be found in.[6] Therefore, the application of the best method in terms of accuracy and speed is necessary to verify the results.