Biological upgrading of lignin
The biological upgrading of lignin-derived monomers involves several activities, discussed below.
Characterisation of natural isolates
The selection and characterization of microorganisms originating from culture collections or from different lignin-rich environments, provides key information on the catabolism of lignin-derived compounds. With this knowledge, more efficient and robust microbial strains can be developed by metabolic engineering.
Chemicals from lignin using engineered Pseudomonas putida
The bacterium P. putida is being engineered for the conversion of lignin-derived monomers into key chemicals, such as bioplastic or Nylon precursors. This involves adding key enzymatic reactions and removing other unwanted reactions. For example, we have developed a modified P. putida strain that can convert Kraft-lignin derived guaiacol into muconic acid, a precursor for Nylon 66 (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c00933).
eLignin: a database on microbial lignin catabolism
eLignin is a database on microbial lignin catabolism based on data from previously published scientific papers. The aim was to bring the bibliome of this field together in a single searchable platform, which gives an overview of central aspects of the molecular biology of lignin- and aromatic catabolism that occurs in nature. This can be of benefit to researchers who want to explore new metabolic engineering strategies for use of lignin. The database has been released to the public in mid-spring 2017 and is available at www.elignindatabase.com.
