title: Hydrolysis of Ionic Phthalic Acid Based Polyesters by Wastewater Microorganisms and Their Enzymes.
abstract: Water-soluble polyesters are used in a range of applications today and enter wastewater treatment plants after product utilization. However, little is known about extracellular enzymes and aquatic microorganisms involved in polyester biodegradation and mineralization. In this study, structurally different ionic phthalic acid based polyesters (the number-average molecular weights (Mn) 1770 to 10 000 g/mol and semi crystalline with crystallinity below 1%) were synthesized in various combinations. Typical wastewater microorganisms like Pseudomonas sp. were chosen for in-silico screening toward polyester hydrolyzing enzymes. Based on the in-silico search, a cutinase from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes (PpCutA) and a putative lipase from Pseudomonas pelagia (PpelaLip) were identified. The enzymes PpCutA and PpelaLip were demonstrated to hydrolyze all structurally different polyesters. Activities on all the polyesters were also confirmed with the strains P. pseudoalcaligenes and P. pelagia. Parameters identified to enhance hydrolysis included increased water solubility and polyester hydrophilicity as well as shorter diol chain lengths. For example, polyesters containing 1,2-ethanediol were hydrolyzed faster than polyesters containing 1,8-octanediol. Interestingly, the same trend was observed in biodegradation experiments. This information is important to gain a better mechanistic understanding of biodegradation processes of polyesters in WWTPs where the extracellular enzymatic hydrolysis seems to be the limiting step.
authors.affiliation: ACIB - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology GmbH , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haernvall
authors.affiliation: ACIB - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology GmbH , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zitzenbacher
authors.affiliation: ACIB - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology GmbH , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wallig
authors.affiliation: BASF SE , Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.
authors.forename: Motonori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: BASF SE , Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael Bernhard
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schick
authors.affiliation: ACIB - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology GmbH , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5822-0204
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribitsch
authors.affiliation: ACIB - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology GmbH , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.|BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute for Environmental Biotechnology , Konrad Lorenz Strasse 20, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Guebitz
mesh_terms: D006868:Hydrolysis; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D011091:Polyesters / Q000378:metabolism*; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000378:metabolism; D062065:Wastewater
chemical_list: D010795:Phthalic Acids; D011091:Polyesters; D062065:Wastewater