An Esterase from Anaerobic Clostridium hathewayi Can Hydrolyze Aliphatic−Aromatic Polyesters

Veronika Perz; Altijana Hromic; Georg Steinkellner; Tea Pavkov-Keller; Karl Gruber; Klaus Bleymaier; Sabine Zitzenbacher; Armin Zankel; Claudia Mayrhofer; Carsten Sinkel; Ulf Kueper; Katharina Schlegel; Doris Ribitsch; Georg M. Guebitz

doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b04346

An Esterase from Anaerobic Clostridium hathewayi Can Hydrolyze Aliphatic−Aromatic Polyesters

Veronika Perz, Altijana Hromic, Georg Steinkellner, Tea Pavkov-Keller, Karl Gruber, Klaus Bleymaier, Sabine Zitzenbacher, Armin Zankel, Claudia Mayrhofer, Carsten Sinkel, Ulf Kueper, Katharina Schlegel, Doris Ribitsch, Georg M. Guebitz

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Recently, a variety of biodegradable polymers
have been developed as alternatives to recalcitrant materials.
Although many studies on polyester biodegradability have
focused on aerobic environments, there is much less known on
biodegradation of polyesters in natural and artificial anaerobic
habitats. Consequently, the potential of anaerobic biogas sludge
to hydrolyze the synthetic compostable polyester PBAT
(poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) was evaluated
in this study. On the basis of reverse-phase highperformance
liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis,
accumulation of terephthalic acid (Ta) was observed in all
anaerobic batches within the first 14 days. Thereafter, a decline
of Ta was observed, which occurred presumably due to
consumption by the microbial population. The esterase Chath_Est1 from the anaerobic risk 1 strain Clostridium hathewayi DSM-
13479 was found to hydrolyze PBAT. Detailed characterization of this esterase including elucidation of the crystal structure was
performed. The crystal structure indicates that Chath_Est1 belongs to the α/β-hydrolases family. This study gives a clear hint
that also micro-organisms in anaerobic habitats can degrade manmade PBAT.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2899-2907
Number of pages	8
Journal	Environmental Science & Technology
Volume	50
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b04346
Publication status	Published - 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science

Fields of Expertise

Advanced Materials Science

Treatment code (Nähere Zuordnung)

Basic - Fundamental (Grundlagenforschung)

Access to Document

10.1021/acs.est.5b04346

Cite this

Perz, V., Hromic, A., Steinkellner, G., Pavkov-Keller, T., Gruber, K., Bleymaier, K., Zitzenbacher, S., Zankel, A., Mayrhofer, C., Sinkel, C., Kueper, U., Schlegel, K., Ribitsch, D., & Guebitz, G. M. (2016). An Esterase from Anaerobic Clostridium hathewayi Can Hydrolyze Aliphatic−Aromatic Polyesters. Environmental Science & Technology, 50, 2899-2907. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b04346

Perz, V, Hromic, A, Steinkellner, G, Pavkov-Keller, T, Gruber, K, Bleymaier, K, Zitzenbacher, S, Zankel, A , Mayrhofer, C, Sinkel, C, Kueper, U, Schlegel, K, Ribitsch, D & Guebitz, GM 2016, 'An Esterase from Anaerobic Clostridium hathewayi Can Hydrolyze Aliphatic−Aromatic Polyesters', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 50, pp. 2899-2907. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b04346

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title = "An Esterase from Anaerobic Clostridium hathewayi Can Hydrolyze Aliphatic−Aromatic Polyesters",

abstract = "Recently, a variety of biodegradable polymershave been developed as alternatives to recalcitrant materials.Although many studies on polyester biodegradability havefocused on aerobic environments, there is much less known onbiodegradation of polyesters in natural and artificial anaerobichabitats. Consequently, the potential of anaerobic biogas sludgeto hydrolyze the synthetic compostable polyester PBAT(poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) was evaluatedin this study. On the basis of reverse-phase highperformanceliquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis,accumulation of terephthalic acid (Ta) was observed in allanaerobic batches within the first 14 days. Thereafter, a declineof Ta was observed, which occurred presumably due toconsumption by the microbial population. The esterase Chath_Est1 from the anaerobic risk 1 strain Clostridium hathewayi DSM-13479 was found to hydrolyze PBAT. Detailed characterization of this esterase including elucidation of the crystal structure wasperformed. The crystal structure indicates that Chath_Est1 belongs to the α/β-hydrolases family. This study gives a clear hintthat also micro-organisms in anaerobic habitats can degrade manmade PBAT.",

author = "Veronika Perz and Altijana Hromic and Georg Steinkellner and Tea Pavkov-Keller and Karl Gruber and Klaus Bleymaier and Sabine Zitzenbacher and Armin Zankel and Claudia Mayrhofer and Carsten Sinkel and Ulf Kueper and Katharina Schlegel and Doris Ribitsch and Guebitz, {Georg M.}",

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AU - Gruber, Karl

AU - Bleymaier, Klaus

AU - Zitzenbacher, Sabine

AU - Zankel, Armin

AU - Mayrhofer, Claudia

AU - Sinkel, Carsten

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N2 - Recently, a variety of biodegradable polymershave been developed as alternatives to recalcitrant materials.Although many studies on polyester biodegradability havefocused on aerobic environments, there is much less known onbiodegradation of polyesters in natural and artificial anaerobichabitats. Consequently, the potential of anaerobic biogas sludgeto hydrolyze the synthetic compostable polyester PBAT(poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) was evaluatedin this study. On the basis of reverse-phase highperformanceliquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis,accumulation of terephthalic acid (Ta) was observed in allanaerobic batches within the first 14 days. Thereafter, a declineof Ta was observed, which occurred presumably due toconsumption by the microbial population. The esterase Chath_Est1 from the anaerobic risk 1 strain Clostridium hathewayi DSM-13479 was found to hydrolyze PBAT. Detailed characterization of this esterase including elucidation of the crystal structure wasperformed. The crystal structure indicates that Chath_Est1 belongs to the α/β-hydrolases family. This study gives a clear hintthat also micro-organisms in anaerobic habitats can degrade manmade PBAT.

AB - Recently, a variety of biodegradable polymershave been developed as alternatives to recalcitrant materials.Although many studies on polyester biodegradability havefocused on aerobic environments, there is much less known onbiodegradation of polyesters in natural and artificial anaerobichabitats. Consequently, the potential of anaerobic biogas sludgeto hydrolyze the synthetic compostable polyester PBAT(poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) was evaluatedin this study. On the basis of reverse-phase highperformanceliquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis,accumulation of terephthalic acid (Ta) was observed in allanaerobic batches within the first 14 days. Thereafter, a declineof Ta was observed, which occurred presumably due toconsumption by the microbial population. The esterase Chath_Est1 from the anaerobic risk 1 strain Clostridium hathewayi DSM-13479 was found to hydrolyze PBAT. Detailed characterization of this esterase including elucidation of the crystal structure wasperformed. The crystal structure indicates that Chath_Est1 belongs to the α/β-hydrolases family. This study gives a clear hintthat also micro-organisms in anaerobic habitats can degrade manmade PBAT.

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