CatIBs | Catalytically active inclusion bodies: New carrier-free enzyme immobilisates for biocatalysis

Abstract

Bioeconomy aims at the development of new value-gaining process chains using sustainable biological resources to foster the change from an oil-based to a renewable resources-based society. This requires alternative production strategies starting from different materials from natural feedstock, a task for which biocatalysts were intrinsically optimized. However, the acceptance of biocatalysts in synthetic chemistry as well as their use in industrial applications is still limited, when new synthetic routes are developed. To address this issue, generic methods for the solely biological production of highly pure and cell free enzyme immobilisates will be developed as part of this project, to gain access to a broad and systematically organized toolbox of different biocatalysts in a stable and easy-to-handle format. The developed technology relies on the induced production of catalytically-active enzyme inclusion bodies (CatIBs), which represent water- and organic solvent insoluble protein aggregates with catalytic function. CatIBs can thus be used as stable enzyme immobilisates in biocatalysis, without the necessity for tedious and expensive purification and immobilisation steps.

Impact on bioeconomy

According to the national and the NRW bioeconomy strategy, white biotechnology encompasses the use of natural resources such as enzymes, microorganisms, and biomass for the environmentally-benign and sustainable production of (fine) chemicals, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. The enzyme immobilisates to be developed in the project have the potential to significantly cut down catalyst-costs as well as waste production during biotransformation processes, thus, rendering the respective processes more economic and environmentally benign. Hence, the developed platform technology represents an important contribution to a more sustainable industrial biotechnology and thus, contributes to a major aim of the Bioeconomy Science Center.

Expected results/ project products

The “CatIBs” project aims to create a platform technology for the bacterial production of environmentally benign, cell-free and matrix-free enzyme immobilisates as an important contribution to sustainable industrial biotechnology. Within this project, CatIB production will be optimized, in terms of quantity and activity, and all process relevant characteristics of the immobilisates will be analyzed. These ambitious goals will be achieved by combining the interdisciplinary expertise of molecular biologists, biochemists and biochemical engineers.

Participating Core Groups

Coordinator

Dr. Ulrich Krauss
Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology,
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
Forschungszentrum Jülich

Tel.: +49 2461-61-2939
Fax.: +49 2461-61-2490
email: u.krauss@fz-juelich.de

Partners

Prof. Dr. Karl-Erich Jaeger, Dr. Ulrich Krauss, Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology (IMET), Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf and IBG-1: Biotechnologie, Forschungszentrum Jülich

Prof. Dr. Jochen Büchs, AVT-Biochemical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wiechert, Prof. Dr. Martina Pohl, IBG-1: Biotechnologie, Forschungszentrum Jülich

Project duration

01.01.2015 – 31.12.2017

Funding budget

The total budget of the “CatIBs” project is € 613.709,00. CatIBs is part of the NRW- Strategieprojekt BioSC and, thus, funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia.