A Chimeric Styrene Monooxygenase with Increased Efficiency in Asymmetric Biocatalytic Epoxidation

An In Vitro Hybrid Biocatalytic System Enabled by a Combination of Surface-Displayed, Purified, and Cell-Free Expressed Enzymes

Enzymatic cascades have become a green and sustainable approach for the synthesis of valuable chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Using sequential enzymes to construct a multienzyme complex is an effective way to enhance the overall performance of biosynthetic routes. Here we report the design of an efficient in vitro hybrid biocatalytic system by assembling three enzymes that can convert styrene to (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol. Specifically, we prepared the three enzymes in different ways, which were cell surface-displayed, purified, and cell-free expressed. To assemble them, we fused two orthogonal peptide-protein pairs (i.e., SpyTag/SpyCatcher and SnoopTag/SnoopCatcher) to the three enzymes, allowing their spatial organization by covalent assembly. By doing this, we constructed a multienzyme complex, which could enhance the production of (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol by 3 times compared to the free-floating enzyme system without assembly. After optimization of the reaction system, the final product yield reached 234.6 μM with a substrate conversion rate of 46.9% (based on 0.5 mM styrene). Taken together, our strategy integrates the merits of advanced biochemical engineering techniques, including cellular surface display, spatial enzyme organization, and cell-free expression, which offers a new solution for chemical biosynthesis by enzymatic cascade biotransformation. We, therefore, anticipate that our approach will hold great potential for designing and constructing highly efficient systems to synthesize chemicals of agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical significance.

Synthesis of Chiral Sulfoxides by A Cyclic Oxidation-Reduction Multi-Enzymatic Cascade Biocatalysis

Optically pure sulfoxides are valuable organosulfur compounds extensively employed in medicinal and organic synthesis. In this study, we present a biocatalytic oxidation-reduction cascade system designed for the preparation of enantiopure sulfoxides. The system involves the cooperation of a low-enantioselective chimeric oxidase SMO (styrene monooxygenase) with a high-enantioselective reductase MsrA (methionine sulfoxide reductase A), facilitating "non-selective oxidation and selective reduction" cycles for prochiral sulfide oxidation. The regeneration of requisite cofactors for MsrA and SMO was achieved via a cascade catalysis process involving three auxiliary enzymes, sustained by cost-effective D-glucose. Under the optimal reaction conditions, a series of heteroaryl alkyl, aryl alkyl and dialkyl sulfoxides in R configuration were synthesized through this "one-pot, one step" cascade reaction. The obtained compounds exhibited high yields of >90 % and demonstrated enantiomeric excess (ee) values exceeding 90 %. This study represents an unconventional and efficient biocatalytic way in utilizing the low-enantioselective oxidase for the synthesis of enantiopure sulfoxides.

Fus-SMO: Kinetics, Biochemical Characterisation and In Silico Modelling of a Chimeric Styrene Monooxygenase Demonstrating Quantitative Coupling Efficiency

The styrene monooxygenase, a two-component enzymatic system for styrene epoxidation, was characterised through the study of Fus-SMO - a chimera resulting from the fusion of StyA and StyB using a flexible linker. Notably, it remains debated whether the transfer of FADH2 from StyB to StyA occurs through diffusion, channeling, or a combination of both. Fus-SMO was identified as a trimer with one bound FAD molecule. In silico modelling revealed a well-distanced arrangement (45-50 Å) facilitated by the flexible linker's loopy structure. Pre-steady-state kinetics elucidated the FADox reduction intricacies (kred=110 s-1 for bound FADox), identifying free FADox binding as the rate-determining step. The aerobic oxidation of FADH2 (kox=90 s-1) and subsequent decomposition to FADox and H2O2 demonstrated StyA's protective effect on the bound hydroperoxoflavin (kdec=0.2 s-1) compared to free cofactor (kdec=1.8 s-1). At varied styrene concentrations, kox for FADH2 ranged from 80 to 120 s-1. Studies on NADH consumption vs. styrene epoxidation revealed Fus-SMO's ability to achieve quantitative coupling efficiency in solution, surpassing natural two-component SMOs. The results suggest that Fus-SMO exhibits enhanced FADH2 channelling between subunits. This work contributes to comprehending FADH2 transfer mechanisms in SMO and illustrates how protein fusion can elevate catalytic efficiency for biocatalytic applications.

Multidomain chimeric enzymes as a promising alternative for biocatalysts improvement: a minireview

Searching for new and better biocatalysts is an area of study in constant development. In nature, mechanisms generally occurring in evolution, such as genetic duplication, recombination, and natural selection processes, produce various enzymes with different architectures and properties. The recombination of genes that code proteins produces multidomain chimeric enzymes that contain two or more domains that sometimes enhance their catalytic properties. Protein engineering has mimicked this process to enhance catalytic activity and the global stability of enzymes, searching for new and better biocatalysts. Here, we present and discuss examples from both natural and synthetic multidomain chimeric enzymes and how additional domains heighten their stability and catalytic activity. Moreover, we also describe progress in developing new biocatalysts using synthetic fusion enzymes and revise some methodological strategies to improve their biological fitness.

HMDB: A curated database of genes involved in hydrocarbon monooxygenation reaction with homologous genes as background

The investigation of hydrocarbon degradation potential of environmental microorganisms is an important research topic, whether for the global carbon cycle or oil pollution remediation. Under aerobic conditions, the microorganisms employ a range of monooxygenases to use hydrocarbons substrates as a source of carbon and energy. With the explosion of sequencing data, mining genes in genomes or metagenomes has become computationally expensive and time-consuming. We proposed the HMDB, which is a professional gene database of hydrocarbon monooxygenases. HMDB contains 38 genes, which encode 11 monooxygenases responsible for the hydroxylation of 8 hydrocarbons. To reduce false positives, the strategy of using homologous genes as background noise was applied for HMDB. We added 10,095 gene sequences of homologous enzymes which took non-hydrocarbons as substrates to HMDB. The classic BLAST method and best-hit strategy were recommended for HMDB usage, but not limited. The performance of HMDB was validated using 264,402 prokaryote genomes from RefSeq and 51 metagenomes from SRA. The results showed that HMDB database had high sensitivity and low false positive rate. We release the HMDB database here, hoping to speed up the process for investigation of hydrocarbon monooxygenases in massive metagenomic data. HMDB is freely available at http://www.orgene.net/HMDB/.

Co-production of 7-chloro-tryptophan and indole pyruvic acid based on an efficient FAD/FADH2 regeneration system

Efficient FAD/FADH₂ regeneration is vital for enzymatic biocatalysis and metabolic pathway optimization. Here, we constructed an efficient and simple FAD/FADH₂ regeneration system through a combination of L-amino acid deaminase (L-AAD) and halogenase (CombiAADHa), which was applied for catalyzing the conversion of an L-amino acid to halide and an α-keto acid. For cell-free biotransformation, the optimal activity ratio of L-AAD and halogenase was set between 1:50 and 1:60. Within 6 h, 170 mg/L of 7-chloro-tryptophan (7-Cl-Trp) and 193 mg/L of indole pyruvic acid (IPA) were synthesized in the selected mono-amino acid system. For whole-cell biotransformation, 7-Cl-Trp and IPA synthesis was enhanced by 15% (from 96 to 110 mg/L) and 12% (from 115 to 129 mg/L), respectively, through expression fine-tuning and the strengthening of FAD/FADH₂ supply. Finally, ultrasound treatment was applied to improve membrane permeability and adjust the activity ratio, resulting in 1.6-and 1.4-fold higher 7-Cl-Trp and IPA yields. The products were then purified. This system could also be applied to the synthesis of other halides and α-keto acids. KEY POINTS: • In this study, a whole cell FAD/FADH₂ regeneration system co-expressing l-AAD and halogenase was constructed • This study found that the activity and ratio of enzyme and the concentration of cofactors had a significant effect on the catalytic process for the efficient co-production of 7-chlorotryptophan and indole pyruvate.

Stapled NRPS enhances the production of valinomycin in Escherichia coli

Nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) are a large family of secondary metabolites with notable bioactivities, which distribute widely in natural resources across microbes and plants. To obtain these molecules, heterologous production of NRPs in robust surrogate hosts like Escherichia coli represent a feasible approach. However, reconstitution of the full biosynthetic pathway in a host often leads to low productivity, which is at least in part due to the low efficiency of enzyme interaction in vivo except for the well-known reasons of metabolic burden (e.g., expression of large NRP synthetases-NRPSs with molecular weights of >100 kDa) and cellular toxicity on host cells. To enhance the catalytic efficiency of large NRPSs in vivo, here we propose to staple NRPS enzymes by using short peptide/protein pairs (e.g., SpyTag/SpyCatcher) for enhanced NRP production. We achieve this goal by introducing a stapled NRPS system for the biosynthesis of the antibiotic NRP valinomycin in E. coli. The results indicate that stapled valinomycin synthetase (Vlm1 and Vlm2) enables higher product accumulation than those two free enzymes (e.g., the maximum improvement is nearly fourfold). After further optimization by strain and bioprocess engineering, the final valinomycin titer maximally reaches about 2800 µg/L, which is 73 times higher than the initial titer of 38 µg/L. We expect that stapling NRPS enzymes will be a promising catalytic strategy for high-level biosynthesis of NRP natural products.

Anaerobic demethylation of guaiacyl-derived monolignols enabled by a designed artificial cobalamin methyltransferase fusion enzyme

Lignin-derived aryl methyl ethers (e.g. coniferyl alcohol, ferulic acid) are expected to be a future carbon source for chemistry. The well-known P450 dependent biocatalytic O-demethylation of these aryl methyl ethers is prone to side product formation especially for the oxidation sensitive catechol products which get easily oxidized in the presence of O2. Alternatively, biocatalytic demethylation using cobalamin dependent enzymes may be used under anaerobic conditions, whereby two proteins, namely a methyltransferase and a carrier protein are required. To make this approach applicable for preparative transformations, fusion proteins were designed connecting the cobalamin-dependent methyltransferase (MT) with the corrinoid-binding protein (CP) from Desulfitobacterium hafniense by variable glycine linkers. From the proteins created, the fusion enzyme MT-L5-CP with the shortest linker performed best of all fusion enzymes investigated showing comparable and, in some aspects, even better performance than the separated proteins. The fusion enzymes provided several advantages like that the cobalamin cofactor loading step required originally for the CP could be skipped enabling a significantly simpler protocol. Consequently, the biocatalytic demethylation was performed using Schlenk conditions allowing the O-demethylation e.g. of the monolignol coniferyl alcohol on a 25 mL scale leading to 75% conversion. The fusion enzyme represents a promising starting point to be evolved for alternative demethylation reactions to diversify natural products and to valorize lignin.

Structural and Mechanistic Studies on Substrate and Stereoselectivity of the Indole Monooxygenase VpIndA1: New Avenues for Biocatalytic Epoxidations and Sulfoxidations

Flavoprotein monooxygenases are a versatile group of enzymes for biocatalytic transformations. Among these, group E monooxygenases (GEMs) catalyze enantioselective epoxidation and sulfoxidation reactions. Here, we describe the crystal structure of an indole monooxygenase from the bacterium Variovorax paradoxus EPS, a GEM designated as VpIndA1. Complex structures with substrates reveal productive binding modes that, in conjunction with force-field calculations and rapid mixing kinetics, reveal the structural basis of substrate and stereoselectivity. Structure-based redesign of the substrate cavity yielded variants with new substrate selectivity (for sulfoxidation of benzyl phenyl sulfide) or with greatly enhanced stereoselectivity (from 35.1 % to 99.8 % ee for production of (1S,2R)-indene oxide). This first determination of the substrate binding mode of GEMs combined with structure-function relationships opens the door for structure-based design of these powerful biocatalysts.

Design of fusion enzymes for biocatalytic applications in aqueous and non-aqueous media

Biocatalytic cascades play a fundamental role in sustainable chemical synthesis. Fusion enzymes are one of the powerful toolboxes to enable the tailored combination of multiple enzymes for efficient cooperative cascades. Especially, this approach offers a substantial potential for the practical application of cofactor-dependent oxidoreductases by forming cofactor self-sufficient cascades. Adequate cofactor recycling while keeping the oxidized/reduced cofactor in a confined microenvironment benefits from the fusion fashion and makes the use of oxidoreductases in harsh non-aqueous media practical. In this mini-review, we have summarized the application of various fusion enzymes in aqueous and non-aqueous media with a focus on the discussion of linker design within oxidoreductases. The design and properties of the reported linkers have been reviewed in detail. Besides, the substrate loadings in these studies have been listed to showcase one of the key limitations (low solubility of hydrophobic substrates) of aqueous biocatalysis when it comes to efficiency and economic feasibility. Therefore, a straightforward strategy of applying non-aqueous media has been briefly discussed while the potential of using the fusion oxidoreductase of interest in organic media was highlighted.

High-Yield Synthesis of Enantiopure 1,2-Amino Alcohols from l-Phenylalanine via Linear and Divergent Enzymatic Cascades

Enantiomerically pure 1,2-amino alcohols are important compounds due to their biological activities and wide applications in chemical synthesis. In this work, we present two multienzyme pathways for the conversion of l-phenylalanine into either 2-phenylglycinol or phenylethanolamine in the enantiomerically pure form. Both pathways start with the two-pot sequential four-step conversion of l-phenylalanine into styrene via subsequent deamination, decarboxylation, enantioselective epoxidation, and enantioselective hydrolysis. For instance, after optimization, the multienzyme process could convert 507 mg of l-phenylalanine into (R)-1-phenyl-1,2-diol in an overall isolated yield of 75% and >99% ee. The opposite enantiomer, (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-diol, was also obtained in a 70% yield and 98–99% ee following the same approach. At this stage, two divergent routes were developed to convert the chiral diols into either 2-phenylglycinol or phenylethanolamine. The former route consisted of a one-pot concurrent interconnected two-step cascade in which the diol intermediate was oxidized to 2-hydroxy-acetophenone by an alcohol dehydrogenase and then aminated by a transaminase to give enantiomerically pure 2-phenylglycinol. Notably, the addition of an alanine dehydrogenase enabled the connection of the two steps and made the overall process redox-self-sufficient. Thus, (S)-phenylglycinol was isolated in an 81% yield and >99.4% ee starting from ca. 100 mg of the diol intermediate. The second route consisted of a one-pot concurrent two-step cascade in which the oxidative and reductive steps were not interconnected. In this case, the diol intermediate was oxidized to either (S)- or (R)-2-hydroxy-2-phenylacetaldehyde by an alcohol oxidase and then aminated by an amine dehydrogenase to give the enantiomerically pure phenylethanolamine. The addition of a formate dehydrogenase and sodium formate was required to provide the reducing equivalents for the reductive amination step. Thus, (R)-phenylethanolamine was isolated in a 92% yield and >99.9% ee starting from ca. 100 mg of the diol intermediate. In summary, l-phenylalanine was converted into enantiomerically pure 2-phenylglycinol and phenylethanolamine in overall yields of 61% and 69%, respectively. This work exemplifies how linear and divergent enzyme cascades can enable the synthesis of high-value chiral molecules such as amino alcohols from a renewable material such as l-phenylalanine with high atom economy and improved sustainability.

Genetic fusion of P450 BM3 and formate dehydrogenase towards self-sufficient biocatalysts with enhanced activity

Fusion of multiple enzymes to multifunctional constructs has been recognized as a viable strategy to improve enzymatic properties at various levels such as stability, activity and handling. In this study, the genes coding for cytochrome P450 BM3 from B. megaterium and formate dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas sp. were fused to enable both substrate oxidation catalyzed by P450 BM3 and continuous cofactor regeneration by formate dehydrogenase within one construct. The order of the genes in the fusion as well as the linkers that bridge the enzymes were varied. The resulting constructs were compared to individual enzymes regarding substrate conversion, stability and kinetic parameters to examine whether fusion led to any substantial improvements of enzymatic properties. Most noticeably, an activity increase of up to threefold was observed for the fusion constructs with various substrates which were partly attributed to the increased diflavin reductase activity of the P450 BM3. We suggest that P450 BM3 undergoes conformational changes upon fusion which resulted in altered properties, however, no NADPH channeling was detected for the fusion constructs.

Regiodivergent and stereoselective hydroxyazidation of alkenes by biocatalytic cascades

Asymmetric functionalization of alkenes allows the direct synthesis of a wide range of chiral compounds. Vicinal hydroxyazidation of alkenes provides a desirable path to 1,2-azidoalcohols; however, existing methods are limited by the control of stereoselectivity and regioselectivity. Herein, we describe a dual-enzyme cascade strategy for regiodivergent and stereoselective hydroxyazidation of alkenes, affording various enantiomerically pure 1,2-azidoalcohols. The biocatalytic cascade process is designed by combining styrene monooxygenase-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes and halohydrin dehalogenase-catalyzed regioselective ring opening of epoxides with azide. Additionally, a one-pot chemo-enzymatic route to chiral β-hydroxytriazoles from alkenes is developed via combining the biocatalytic cascades and Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition.

Two (Chemo)-Enzymatic Cascades for the Production of Opposite Enantiomers of Chiral Azidoalcohols

Multi-step cascade reactions have gained increasing attention in the biocatalysis field in recent years. In particular, multi-enzymatic cascades can achieve high molecular complexity without workup of reaction intermediates thanks to the enzymes’ intrinsic selectivity; and where enzymes fall short, organo- or metal catalysts can further expand the range of possible synthetic routes. Here, we present two enantiocomplementary (chemo)-enzymatic cascades composed of either a styrene monooxygenase (StyAB) or the Shi epoxidation catalyst for enantioselective alkene epoxidation in the first step, coupled with a halohydrin dehalogenase (HHDH)-catalysed regioselective epoxide ring opening in the second step for the synthesis of chiral aliphatic non-terminal azidoalcohols. Through the controlled formation of two new stereocenters, corresponding azidoalcohol products could be obtained with high regioselectivity and excellent enantioselectivity (99% ee) in the StyAB-HHDH cascade, while product enantiomeric excesses in the Shi-HHDH cascade ranged between 56 and 61%.

Designing Modular Cell-free Systems for Tunable Biotransformation of l-phenylalanine to Aromatic Compounds

Cell-free systems have been used to synthesize chemicals by reconstitution of in vitro expressed enzymes. However, coexpression of multiple enzymes to reconstitute long enzymatic pathways is often problematic due to resource limitation/competition (e.g., energy) in the one-pot cell-free reactions. To address this limitation, here we aim to design a modular, cell-free platform to construct long biosynthetic pathways for tunable synthesis of value-added aromatic compounds, using (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol ((S)-PED) and 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) as models. Initially, all enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathways were individually expressed by an E. coli-based cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) system and their catalytic activities were confirmed. Then, three sets of enzymes were coexpressed in three cell-free modules and each with the ability to complete a partial pathway. Finally, the full biosynthetic pathways were reconstituted by mixing two related modules to synthesize (S)-PED and 2-PE, respectively. After optimization, the final conversion rates for (S)-PED and 2-PE reached 100 and 82.5%, respectively, based on the starting substrate of l-phenylalanine. We anticipate that the modular cell-free approach will make a possible efficient and high-yielding biosynthesis of value-added chemicals.

High Regio- and Stereoselective Multi-enzymatic Synthesis of All Phenylpropanolamine Stereoisomers from β-Methylstyrene

We present a one-pot cascade for the synthesis of phenylpropanolamines (PPAs) in high optical purities (er and dr up to >99.5 %) and analytical yields (up to 95 %) by using 1-phenylpropane-1,2-diols as key intermediates. This bioamination entails the combination of an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), an ω-transaminase (ωTA) and an alanine dehydrogenase to create a redox-neutral network, which harnesses the exquisite and complementary regio- and stereo-selectivities of the selected ADHs and ωTAs. The requisite 1-phenylpropane-1,2-diol intermediates were obtained from trans- or cis-β-methylstyrene by combining a styrene monooxygenase with epoxide hydrolases. Furthermore, in selected cases, the envisioned cascade enabled to obtain the structural isomer (1S,2R)-1-amino-1-phenylpropan-2-ol in high optical purity (er and dr >99.5 %). This is the first report on an enzymatic method that enables to obtain all of the four possible PPA stereoisomers in great enantio- and diastereo-selectivity.

Flavoprotein monooxygenases: Versatile biocatalysts

Flavoprotein monooxygenases (FPMOs) are single- or two-component enzymes that catalyze a diverse set of chemo-, regio- and enantioselective oxyfunctionalization reactions. In this review, we describe how FPMOs have evolved from model enzymes in mechanistic flavoprotein research to biotechnologically relevant catalysts that can be applied for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals. After a historical account of the development of the FPMO field, we explain the FPMO classification system, which is primarily based on protein structural properties and electron donor specificities. We then summarize the most appealing reactions catalyzed by each group with a focus on the different types of oxygenation chemistries. Wherever relevant, we report engineering strategies that have been used to improve the robustness and applicability of FPMOs.

A new clade of styrene monooxygenases for (R)-selective epoxidation

Styrene monooxygenases (SMOs) are excellent enzymes for the production of (S)-enantiopure epoxides, but so far, only one (R)-selective SMO has been identified with a narrow substrate spectrum.

Engineering natural and noncanonical nicotinamide cofactor-dependent enzymes: design principles and technology development

Nicotinamide cofactors enable oxidoreductases to catalyze a myriad of important reactions in biomanufacturing. Decades of research has focused on optimizing enzymes which utilize natural nicotinamide cofactors, namely nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) (NAD(P)+). Recent findings reignite the interest in engineering enzymes to utilize noncanonical cofactors, the mimetics of NAD+ (mNADs), which exhibit superior industrial properties in vitro and enable specific electron delivery in vivo. We compare recent advances in engineering natural versus noncanonical cofactor-utilizing enzymes, discuss design principles discovered, and survey emerging high-throughput platforms beyond the traditional 96-well plate-based methods. Obtaining mNAD-dependent enzymes remains challenging with a limited toolkit. To this end, we highlight design principles and technologies which can potentially be translated from engineering natural to noncanonical cofactor-dependent enzymes.

Optimizing the linker length for fusing an alcohol dehydrogenase with a cyclohexanone monooxygenase

The use of enzymes in organic synthesis is highly appealing due their remarkably high chemo-, regio- and enantioselectivity. Nevertheless, for biosynthetic routes to be industrially useful, the enzymes must fulfill several requirements. Particularly, in case of cofactor-dependent enzymes self-sufficient systems are highly valuable. This can be achieved by fusing enzymes with complementary cofactor dependency. Such bifunctional enzymes are also relatively easy to handle, may enhance stability, and promote product intermediate channeling. However, usually the characteristics of the linker, fusing the target enzymes, are not thoroughly evaluated. A poor linker design can lead to detrimental effects on expression levels, enzyme stability and/or enzyme performance. In this chapter, the effect of the length of a glycine-rich linker was explored for the case study of ɛ-caprolactone synthesis through an alcohol dehydrogenase-cyclohexanone monooxygenase fusion system. The procedure includes cloning of linker variants, expression analysis, determination of thermostability and effect on activity and conversion levels of 15 variants of different linker sizes. The protocols can also be used for the creation of other protein-protein fusions.

Regio- and stereoselective multi-enzymatic aminohydroxylation of β-methylstyrene using dioxygen, ammonia and formate

We report an enzymatic route for the formal regio- and stereoselective aminohydroxylation of β-methylstyrene that consumes only dioxygen, ammonia and formate; carbonate is the by-product. The biocascade entails highly selective epoxidation, hydrolysis and hydrogen-borrowing alcohol amination. Thus, β-methylstyrene was converted into 1R,2R and 1S,2R-phenylpropanolamine in 59-63% isolated yields, and up to >99.5: <0.5 dr and er.

Genetically Engineered Proteins to Improve Biomass Conversion: New Advances and Challenges for Tailoring Biocatalysts

Protein engineering emerged as a powerful approach to generate more robust and efficient biocatalysts for bio-based economy applications, an alternative to ecologically toxic chemistries that rely on petroleum. On the quest for environmentally friendly technologies, sustainable and low-cost resources such as lignocellulosic plant-derived biomass are being used for the production of biofuels and fine chemicals. Since most of the enzymes used in the biorefinery industry act in suboptimal conditions, modification of their catalytic properties through protein rational design and in vitro evolution techniques allows the improvement of enzymatic parameters such as specificity, activity, efficiency, secretability, and stability, leading to better yields in the production lines. This review focuses on the current application of protein engineering techniques for improving the catalytic performance of enzymes used to break down lignocellulosic polymers. We discuss the use of both classical and modern methods reported in the literature in the last five years that allowed the boosting of biocatalysts for biomass degradation.

The styrene monooxygenase system

Styrene monooxygenases are soluble two-component flavoproteins that catalyze the NADH and FAD-dependent enantioselective epoxidation of styrene to styrene oxide in the aqueous phase. These enzymes present interesting mechanistic features and potential as catalysts in biotechnological applications ranging from green chemical synthesis to bioremediation. This chapter presents approaches for the expression of the reductase (SMOB, StyB) and epoxidase (SMOA, StyA) components of SMO from pET-vectors as native or N-terminally histidine-tagged proteins in commercial strains of E. coli. The two-component structure of SMO and hydrophobic nature of styrene substrate requires some special consideration in evaluating the mechanism of this enzyme. The modular composition of the enzyme allows the flavin-reduction reaction of SMOB and styrene epoxidation reaction of SMOA to be evaluated both independently and as a composite catalytic system. The freedom to independently study the reductase and epoxidase components of SMO significantly simplifies studies of equilibrium-binding and the coupling of the free energy of ligand binding to the electrochemical potential of bound FAD. In this chapter, methods of steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetic assay, experimental approaches to equilibrium-binding reactions of flavin and substrate, and determination of the electrochemical midpoint potential of FAD bound to the reductase and epoxidase components of SMO are presented. This presentation focuses on approaches that have been successfully used in the study of the wild-type styrene monooxygenase system recovered from Pseudomonas putida (S12), but similar approaches may be effective in the characterization of related two-component enzyme systems.

Biocatalytic selective functionalisation of alkenes via single-step and one-pot multi-step reactions

Alkenes are excellent starting materials for organic synthesis due to the versatile reactivity of C[double bond, length as m-dash]C bonds and the easy availability of many unfunctionalised alkenes. Direct regio- and/or enantioselective conversion of alkenes into functionalised (chiral) compounds has enormous potential for industrial applications, and thus has attracted the attention of researchers for extensive development using chemo-catalysis over the past few years. On the other hand, many enzymes have also been employed for conversion of alkenes in a highly selective and much greener manner to offer valuable products. Herein, we review recent advances in seven well-known types of biocatalytic conversion of alkenes. Remarkably, recent mechanism-guided directed evolution and enzyme cascades have enabled the development of seven novel types of single-step and one-pot multi-step functionalisation of alkenes, some of which are even unattainable via chemo-catalysis. These new reactions are particularly highlighted in this feature article. Overall, we present an ever-expanding enzyme toolbox for various alkene functionalisations inspiring further research in this fast-developing theme.

Enzyme Fusions in Biocatalysis: Coupling Reactions by Pairing Enzymes

One approach to bringing enzymes together for multienzyme biocatalysis is genetic fusion. This enables the production of multifunctional enzymes that can be used for whole-cell biotransformations or for in vitro (cascade) reactions. In some cases and in some aspects, such as expression and conversions, the fused enzymes outperform a combination of the individual enzymes. In contrast, some enzyme fusions are greatly compromised in activity and/or expression. In this Minireview, we give an overview of studies on fusions between two or more enzymes that were used for biocatalytic applications, with a focus on oxidative enzymes. Typically, the enzymes are paired to facilitate cofactor recycling or cosubstrate supply. In addition, different linker designs are briefly discussed. Although enzyme fusion is a promising tool for some biocatalytic applications, future studies could benefit from integrating the findings of previous studies in order to improve reliability and effectiveness.

Photoenzymatic epoxidation of styrenes

Photochemical reduction of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) enables the direct, non-enzymatic regeneration of styrene monooxygenase for enantiospecific epoxidation reactions.

Two-Component FAD-Dependent Monooxygenases: Current Knowledge and Biotechnological Opportunities

Flavoprotein monooxygenases create valuable compounds that are of high interest for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries, among others. Monooxygenases that use flavin as cofactor are either single- or two-component systems. Here we summarize the current knowledge about two-component flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent monooxygenases and describe their biotechnological relevance. Two-component FAD-dependent monooxygenases catalyze hydroxylation, epoxidation, and halogenation reactions and are physiologically involved in amino acid metabolism, mineralization of aromatic compounds, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The monooxygenase component of these enzymes is strictly dependent on reduced FAD, which is supplied by the reductase component. More and more representatives of two-component FAD-dependent monooxygenases have been discovered and characterized in recent years, which has resulted in the identification of novel physiological roles, functional properties, and a variety of biocatalytic opportunities.

A Chimeric Styrene Monooxygenase with Increased Efficiency in Asymmetric Biocatalytic Epoxidation

The styrene monooxygenase (SMO) system from Pseudomonas sp. consists of two enzymes (StyA and StyB). StyB catalyses the reduction of FAD at the expense of NADH. After the transfer of FADH2 from StyB to StyA, reaction with O2 generates FAD-OOH, which is the epoxidising agent. The wastage of redox equivalents due to partial diffusive transfer of FADH2 , the insolubility of recombinant StyB and the impossibility of expressing StyA and StyB in a 1:1 molar ratio reduce the catalytic efficiency of the natural system. Herein we present a chimeric SMO (Fus-SMO) that was obtained by genetic fusion of StyA and StyB through a flexible linker. Thanks to a combination of: 1) balanced and improved expression levels of reductase and epoxidase units, and 2) intrinsically higher specific epoxidation activity of Fus-SMO in some cases, Escherichia coli cells expressing Fus-SMO possess about 50 % higher activity for the epoxidation of styrene derivatives than E. coli cells coexpressing StyA and StyB as discrete enzymes. The epoxidation activity of purified Fus-SMO was up to three times higher than that of the two-component StyA/StyB (1:1, molar ratio) system and up to 110 times higher than that of the natural fused SMO. Determination of coupling efficiency and study of the influence of O2 pressure were also performed. Finally, Fus-SMO and formate dehydrogenase were coexpressed in E. coli and applied as a self-sufficient biocatalytic system for epoxidation on greater than 500 mg scale.

VpStyA1/VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS: An Aryl Alkyl Sulfoxidase Rather than a Styrene Epoxidizing Monooxygenase

Herein we describe the first representative of an E2-type two-component styrene monooxygenase of proteobacteria. It comprises a single epoxidase protein (VpStyA1) and a two domain protein (VpStyA2B) harboring an epoxidase (A2) and a FAD-reductase (B) domain. It was annotated as VpStyA1/VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS. VpStyA2B serves mainly as NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase. A Km of 33.6 ± 4.0 µM for FAD and a kcat of 22.3 ± 1.1 s-1 were determined and resulted in a catalytic efficiency (kcatKm-1) of 0.64 s-1 μM-1. To investigate its NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase function the linker between A2- and B-domain (AREAV) was mutated. One mutant (AAAAA) showed 18.7-fold higher affinity for FAD (kcatKm-1 of 5.21 s-1 μM-1) while keeping wildtype NADH-affinity and -oxidation activity. Both components, VpStyA2B and VpStyA1, showed monooxygenase activity on styrene of 0.14 U mg-1 and 0.46 U mg-1, as well as on benzyl methyl sulfide of 1.62 U mg-1 and 3.11 U mg-1, respectively. The high sulfoxidase activity was the reason to test several thioanisole-like substrates in biotransformations. VpStyA1 showed high substrate conversions (up to 95% in 2 h) and produced dominantly (S)-enantiomeric sulfoxides of all tested substrates. The AAAAA-mutant showed a 1.6-fold increased monooxygenase activity. In comparison, the GQWCSQY-mutant did neither show monooxygenase nor efficient FAD-reductase activity. Hence, the linker between the two domains of VpStyA2B has effects on the reductase as well as on the monooxygenase performance. Overall, this monooxygenase represents a promising candidate for biocatalyst development and studying natural fusion proteins.