title: Advancing understanding of microbial bioenergy conversion processes by activity-based protein profiling.
abstract: The development of renewable biofuels is a global priority, but success will require novel technologies that greatly improve our understanding of microbial systems biology. An approach with great promise in enabling functional characterization of microbes is activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), which employs chemical probes to directly measure enzyme function in discrete enzyme classes in vivo and/or in vitro, thereby facilitating the rapid discovery of new biocatalysts and enabling much improved biofuel production platforms. We review general design strategies in ABPP, and highlight recent advances that are or could be pivotal to biofuels processes including applications of ABPP to cellulosic bioethanol, biodiesel, and phototrophic production of hydrocarbons. We also examine the key challenges and opportunities of ABPP in renewable biofuels research. The integration of ABPP with molecular and systems biology approaches will shed new insight on the catalytic and regulatory mechanisms of functional enzymes and their synergistic effects in the field of biofuels production.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, MSIN J4-02, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Fredrickson
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, MSIN J4-02, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: Natalie C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Sadler
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, MSIN J4-02, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: Premchendar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nandhikonda
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, MSIN J4-02, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, MSIN J4-02, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: Aaron T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Wright
keywords: Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP); Biodiesel; Cellulosic bioethanol; Protein redox; Proteomics