Microorganisms

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial enzymes play an integral and important role in a number of different biotechnological applications, ranging from analytics and medicine to industry. In addition to their well-established applications in these areas, recent developments in the fields of molecular biology, protein chemistry, and enzyme engineering have significantly increased the use of enzymes as biocatalysts in biotechnology. Microbial enzymes and, especially, biocatalysis have developed enormously in the last decade and now offer solutions for the sustainable production of chiral and highly functionalized molecules. Recent advances in oxidative enzymes have furthermore boosted research towards biorefineries and biofuels. This enormous progress is based on new approaches for the screening and identification of novel microbial enzymes, various methods to efficiently (over)produce enzymes in an economic way, various techniques to tailor enzymes with respect to desired or novel properties, as well as a wealth of structural data on enzymes. The successful use of enzymes in industry and biocatalysis requires a transdisciplinary expertise, ranging from biochemistry, to biotechnology, micromolecular and structural biology, process engineering/enzyme reactors, and thus provides a dynamic environment, which will fuel new applications and future innovations. This dynamic interplay between different scientific areas will also be reflected in this Special Issue on the structure, function, and discovery of microbial enzymes, both in traditional fields and in novel industrial applications.

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Haltrich
Guest Editor

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Keywords

microbial enzymes
biocatalysis
enzyme engineering
structure/function relationships of enzymes
production of recombinant enzymes

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 3275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction and Application of a Plasmid-Based Signal Peptide Library for Improved Secretion of Recombinant Proteins with Priestia megaterium

by Janine Mayer, Tobias Knuuti, Lisa Baumgarten, Elise Menke, Lena Bischoff, Boyke Bunk and Rebekka Biedendieck

Microorganisms 2022, 10(4), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040777 - 05 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2248

Abstract

The secretion of recombinant proteins plays an important role in their economic production and purification. The secretion efficiency depends on the responsible signal peptide (SP) in combination with the target protein and the given host and cannot be predicted so far. Due to its high plasmid stability, the lack of alkaline extracellular proteases and only few contaminating extracellular host proteins, Priestia megaterium provides a promising alternative to common Bacillus species. For the development of an easy and fast cloning and screening system to identify the SP best suited to a distinct protein, a plasmid-based SP library containing all predicted 182 Sec-dependent SPs from P. megaterium was established. The splitting of the SPs into 10 groups of individual multi-SP plasmids (pMSPs) allows their grouped amplification and application in screening approaches. The functionality of the whole library was demonstrated by enhancing the amount of the already well-secreted α-amylase AmyE by 1.6-fold. The secretion of a novel penicillin G acylase, which remained as insoluble protein inside the cells, as its native SP is unsuitable for secretion in P. megaterium, could be enhanced even up to 29-fold. Overall, only around 170 recombinant P. megaterium clones based on 50 inserted SPs had to be screened to achieve sufficient amounts for further enzyme characterizations. Thus, this newly developed plasmid-based genetic tool applicable for P. megaterium and also other Bacillus species facilitates the identification of suitable SPs for secretion of recombinant proteins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Biotechnology of Microbial Enzymes)

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Review

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33 pages, 1700 KiB

Open AccessReview

Lignocellulolytic Biocatalysts: The Main Players Involved in Multiple Biotechnological Processes for Biomass Valorization

by Ana Laura Totti Benatti and Maria de Lourdes Teixeira de Moraes Polizeli

Microorganisms 2023, 11(1), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11010162 - 08 Jan 2023

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2835

Abstract

Human population growth, industrialization, and globalization have caused several pressures on the planet’s natural resources, culminating in the severe climate and environmental crisis which we are facing. Aiming to remedy and mitigate the impact of human activities on the environment, the use of lignocellulolytic enzymes for biofuel production, food, bioremediation, and other various industries, is presented as a more sustainable alternative. These enzymes are characterized as a group of enzymes capable of breaking down lignocellulosic biomass into its different monomer units, making it accessible for bioconversion into various products and applications in the most diverse industries. Among all the organisms that produce lignocellulolytic enzymes, microorganisms are seen as the primary sources for obtaining them. Therefore, this review proposes to discuss the fundamental aspects of the enzymes forming lignocellulolytic systems and the main microorganisms used to obtain them. In addition, different possible industrial applications for these enzymes will be discussed, as well as information about their production modes and considerations about recent advances and future perspectives in research in pursuit of expanding lignocellulolytic enzyme uses at an industrial scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Biotechnology of Microbial Enzymes)

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