Enzymatic production of Cilastatin intermediate via highly enantioselective hydrolysis of methyl (±)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylate using newly isolated Rhodococcus sp. ECU1013

Insight Into Microbial Applications for the Biodegradation of Pyrethroid Insecticides

Pyrethroids are broad-spectrum insecticides and presence of chiral carbon differentiates among various forms of pyrethroids. Microbial approaches have emerged as a popular solution to counter pyrethroid toxicity to marine life and mammals. Bacterial and fungal strains can effectively degrade pyrethroids into non-toxic compounds. Different strains of bacteria and fungi such as Bacillus spp., Raoultella ornithinolytica, Psudomonas flourescens, Brevibacterium sp., Acinetobactor sp., Aspergillus sp., Candida sp., Trichoderma sp., and Candia spp., are used for the biodegradation of pyrethroids. Hydrolysis of ester bond by enzyme esterase/carboxyl esterase is the initial step in pyrethroid biodegradation. Esterase is found in bacteria, fungi, insect and mammalian liver microsome cells that indicates its hydrolysis ability in living cells. Biodegradation pattern and detected metabolites reveal microbial consumption of pyrethroids as carbon and nitrogen source. In this review, we aim to explore pyrethroid degrading strains, enzymes and metabolites produced by microbial strains. This review paper covers in-depth knowledge of pyrethroids and recommends possible solutions to minimize their environmental toxicity.

Esterases as stereoselective biocatalysts

Non-lypolitic esterases are carboxylester hydrolases with preference for the hydrolysis of water-soluble esters bearing short-chain acyl residues. The potential of esterases as enantioselective biocatalysts has enlarged in the last few years due to the progresses achieved in different areas, such as screening methodologies, overproduction of recombinant esterases, structural information useful for understanding the rational behind enantioselectivity, and efficient methods in protein engineering. Contributions of these complementary know-hows to the development of new robust enantioselective esterases are critically discussed in this review.

Substrate channel evolution of an esterase for the synthesis of cilastatin

Error-prone PCR and site-directed mutagenesis around substrate channel were employed for improving an esterase (RhEst1) activity towards Cilastatin building block. RhEst1_{A147I/V148F/G254A} showed 20 times higher activity than the native enzyme in whole cell biotransformation.

Cloning and Characterization of a Novel Esterase from Rhodococcus sp. for Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of a Chiral Cilastatin Precursor

A novel nonheme chloroperoxidase (RhEst1), with promiscuous esterase activity for enantioselective hydrolysis of ethyl (S)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate, was identified from a shotgun library of Rhodococcus sp. strain ECU1013. RhEst1 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), purified to homogeneity, and functionally characterized. Fingerprinting analysis revealed that RhEst1 prefers para-nitrophenyl (pNP) esters of short-chain acyl groups. pNP esters with a cyclic acyl moiety, especially that with a cyclobutanyl group, were also substrates for RhEst1. The Km values for methyl 2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (DmCpCm) and ethyl 2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylate (DmCpCe) were 0.25 and 0.43 mM, respectively. RhEst1 could serve as an efficient hydrolase for the bioproduction of optically pure (S)-2,2-dimethyl cyclopropane carboxylic acid (DmCpCa), which is an important chiral building block for cilastatin. As much as 0.5 M DmCpCe was enantioselectively hydrolyzed into (S)-DmCpCa, with a molar yield of 47.8% and an enantiomeric excess (ee) of 97.5%, indicating an extremely high enantioselectivity (E = 240) of this novel and unique biocatalyst for green manufacturing of highly valuable chiral chemicals.