Bioprocess Scale-up for Acetohydroxamic Acid Production by Hyperactive Acyltransferase of Immobilized Rhodococcus Pyridinivorans

Recombinant Amidases: Recent Insights and its Applications in the Production of Industrially Important Fine Chemicals

The current research for the synthesis of industrially important fine chemicals is more inclined towards developing enzyme-based processes. The biotransformation reactions wherein microbial cells/enzymes are used, have become essential in making the process efficient, green, and economical. Amongst industrially important enzymes, amidase is one of the most versatile tools in biocatalysis and biotransformation reactions. It shows broad substrate specificity and sturdy functional characteristics because of its promiscuous nature. Further, advancement in the area led to the development of amidase recombinant systems, which are developed using biotechnology and enzyme engineering tools. Additionally, recombinant amidases may be instrumental in commercializing the synthesis of fine chemicals such as hydroxamic acids that have a significant pharmaceutical market. Hence, the present review focuses on highlighting and assimilating the tools and techniques used in developing recombinant systems followed by their applications.

Hierarchical Emulsion-Templated Monoliths (polyHIPEs) as Scaffolds for Covalent Immobilization of P. acidilactici

The immobilized cell fermentation technique (IMCF) has gained immense popularity in recent years due to its capacity to enhance metabolic efficiency, cell stability, and product separation during fermentation. Porous carriers used as cell immobilization facilitate mass transfer and isolate the cells from an adverse external environment, thus accelerating cell growth and metabolism. However, creating a cell-immobilized porous carrier that guarantees both mechanical strength and cell stability remains challenging. Herein, templated by water-in-oil (w/o) high internal phase emulsions (HIPE), we established a tunable open-cell polymeric P(St-co-GMA) monolith as a scaffold for the efficient immobilization of Pediococcus acidilactici (P. acidilactici). The porous framework's mechanical property was substantially improved by incorporating the styrene monomer and cross-linker divinylbenzene (DVB) in the HIPE's external phase, while the epoxy groups on glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) supply anchoring sites for P. acidilactici, securing the immobilization to the inner wall surface of the void. For the fermentation of immobilized P. acidilactici, the polyHIPEs permit efficient mass transfer, which increases along with increased interconnectivity of the monolith, resulting in higher _L-lactic acid yield compared to that of suspended cells with an increase of 17%. The relative _L-lactic acid production is constantly maintained above 92.9% of their initial relative production after 10 cycles, exhibiting both its great cycling stability and the durability of the material structure. Furthermore, the procedure during recycle batch also simplifies downstream separation operations.

Geobacillus thermoleovorans MTCC 13131: An Amide-Hydrolyzing Thermophilic Bacterium Isolated from a Hot Spring of Manikaran

Geobacillus thermoleovorans MTCC 13131, an amide hydrolyzing bacteria was isolated from a hot spring in Himachal Pradesh and identified through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The amidase derived from this bacterium exhibited hydrolyzing catalytic ability against aliphatic and aromatic amides. The isolate was characterized for morphological and biochemical properties. Further, the production of amidase enzyme from this isolate was evaluated using approach of one-variable-at-a-time and response surface method. The Response Surface Methodology based study indicated the importance of nitrogen sources and growth period for amidase production. Optimal production was achieved at a temperature 55 °C, and production pH 7.5 in the production medium comprising diammonium hydrogen phosphate (0.4%), peptone (0.45%) and yeast extract (0.3%). The wide substrate affinity of the strain suggests its potential role in biotransformation of amides to corresponding acids of industrial significance along with its strong capacity to degrade the toxic amide in polluted environmental samples.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-022-01042-9.

Electrospun Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography (HIC) Membranes for Protein Purification

Responsive membranes for hydrophobic interaction chromatography have been fabricated by functionalizing poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) ligands on the substrate of electrospun regenerated cellulose nanofibers. Both static and dynamic binding capacities and product recovery were investigated using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) as model proteins. The effects of ligand chain length and chain density on static binding capacity were also studied. A static binding capacity of ~25 mg/mL of membrane volume (MV) can be achieved in optimal ligand grafting conditions. For dynamic binding studies, protein binding capacity increased with protein concentration from 0.1 to 1.0 g/L. Dynamic binding capacity increased from ~8 mg/mL MV at 0.1 g/L BSA to over 30 mg/mL at 1.0 g/L BSA. However, BSA recovery decreased as protein concentration increased from ~98% at 0.1 g/L BSA to 51% at 1 g/L BSA loading concentration. There is a clear trade-off between binding capacity and recovery rate. The electrospun substrate with thicker fibers and more open pore structures is superior to thinner fibrous membrane substrates.

Biomolecules Production from Greenhouse Gases by Methanotrophs

Harmful effects on living organisms and the environment are on the rise due to a significant increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through human activities. Therefore, various research initiatives have been carried out in several directions in relation to the utilization of GHGs via physicochemical or biological routes. An environmentally friendly approach to reduce the burden of significant emissions and their harmful effects is the bioconversion of GHGs, including methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), into value-added products. Methanotrophs have enormous potential for the efficient biotransformation of CH4 to various bioactive molecules, including biofuels, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and fatty acids. This review highlights the recent developments in methanotroph-based systems for methanol production from GHGs and proposes future perspectives to improve process sustainability via biorefinery approaches.

Anaerobic Digestion of Agri-Food Wastes for Generating Biofuels

Presently, fossil fuels are extensively employed as major sources of energy, and their uses are considered unsustainable due to emissions of obnoxious gases on the burning of fossil fuels, which can lead to severe environmental complications, including human health. To tackle these issues, various processes are developing to waste as a feed to generate eco-friendly fuels. The biological production of fuels is considered to be more beneficial than physicochemical methods due to their environmentally friendly nature, high rate of conversion at ambient physiological conditions, and less energy-intensive. Among various biofuels, hydrogen (H₂) is considered as a wonderful due to high calorific value and generate water molecule as end product on the burning. The H₂ production from biowaste is demonstrated, and agri-food waste can be potentially used as a feedstock due to their high biodegradability over lignocellulosic-based biomass. Still, the H₂ production is uneconomical from biowaste in fuel competing market because of low yields and increased capital and operational expenses. Anaerobic digestion is widely used for waste management and the generation of value-added products. This article is highlighting the valorization of agri-food waste to biofuels in single (H₂) and two-stage bioprocesses of H₂ and CH₄ production.