title: Directed evolution of an ultrastable carbonic anhydrase for highly efficient carbon capture from flue gas.
abstract: Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is one of nature's fastest enzymes and can dramatically improve the economics of carbon capture under demanding environments such as coal-fired power plants. The use of CA to accelerate carbon capture is limited by the enzyme's sensitivity to the harsh process conditions. Using directed evolution, the properties of a β-class CA from Desulfovibrio vulgaris were dramatically enhanced. Iterative rounds of library design, library generation, and high-throughput screening identified highly stable CA variants that tolerate temperatures of up to 107 °C in the presence of 4.2 M alkaline amine solvent at pH >10.0. This increase in thermostability and alkali tolerance translates to a 4,000,000-fold improvement over the natural enzyme. At pilot scale, the evolved catalyst enhanced the rate of CO2 absorption 25-fold compared with the noncatalyzed reaction.
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063; Oscar.Alvizo@codexis.com.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alvizo
authors.affiliation: Calysta Energy, Inc., Menlo Park, CA 94025;
authors.forename: Luan J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Savile
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: Jamie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bresson
authors.affiliation: Siluria Technologies Inc., San Francisco, CA 94158;
authors.forename: Satish L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lakhapatri
authors.affiliation: Calysta Energy, Inc., Menlo Park, CA 94025;
authors.forename: Earl O P
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Solis
authors.affiliation: Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, IA 50131;
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Novozymes Inc., Franklinton, NC 27525; and.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Broering
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Benoit
authors.affiliation: BP Biofuels, San Diego, CA 92121.
authors.forename: Sabrina A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Novick
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Codexis, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063;
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lalonde
keywords: carbon capture; carbonic anhydrase; directed evolution