Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 111, Issue 28, Pages 10143-10148Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1401631111
Keywords
environmental genomics; synthetic biology
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
- Genome British Columbia
- Genome Alberta
- Genome Canada
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Tula Foundation
- NSERC
- NSERC CREATE Genome Sciences and Technology training program at the University of British Columbia
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
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Engineering the microbial transformation of lignocellulosic biomass is essential to developing modern biorefining processes that alleviate reliance on petroleum-derived energy and chemicals. Many current bioprocess streams depend on the genetic tractability of Escherichia coli with a primary emphasis on engineering cellulose/hemicellulose catabolism, small molecule production, and resistance to product inhibition. Conversely, bioprocess streams for lignin transformation remain embryonic, with relatively few environmental strains or enzymes implicated. Here we develop a biosensor responsive to monoaromatic lignin transformation products compatible with functional screening in E. coli. We use this biosensor to retrieve metagenomic scaffolds sourced from coal bed bacterial communities conferring an array of lignin transformation phenotypes that synergize in combination. Transposon mutagenesis and comparative sequence analysis of active clones identified genes encoding six functional classes mediating lignin transformation phenotypes that appear to be rearrayed in nature via horizontal gene transfer. Lignin transformation activity was then demonstrated for one of the predicted gene products encoding a multicopper oxidase to validate the screen. These results illuminate cellular and community-wide networks acting on aromatic polymers and expand the toolkit for engineering recombinant lignin transformation based on ecological design principles.
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