Abstract
Biological degradation of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and assimilation of the corresponding monomers ethylene glycol and terephthalate (TPA) into central metabolism offers an attractive route for bio-based molecular recycling and bioremediation applications. A key step is the cellular uptake of the non-permeable TPA into bacterial cells which has been shown to be dependent upon the presence of the key tphC gene. However, little is known from a biochemical and structural perspective about the encoded solute binding protein, TphC. Here, we report the biochemical and structural characterisation of TphC in both open and TPA-bound closed conformations. This analysis demonstrates the narrow ligand specificity of TphC towards aromatic para-substituted dicarboxylates, such as TPA and closely related analogues. Further phylogenetic and genomic context analysis of the tph genes reveals homologous operons as a genetic resource for future biotechnological and metabolic engineering efforts towards circular plastic bio-economy solutions.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 6244 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 29 Oct 2021 |
Keywords
- Bacterial Proteins/chemistry
- Calorimetry
- Comamonas/chemistry
- Crystallography, X-Ray
- Fluorometry/methods
- Ligands
- Models, Molecular
- Molecular Docking Simulation
- Mutation
- Operon
- Phthalic Acids/metabolism
- Phylogeny
- Protein Conformation
- Xenobiotics/metabolism
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology