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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.03.16.993592

Bio-upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate

Tiso, T.·Narancic, T.·Wei, R.·Pollet, E.·Beagan, N.·Schroeder, K.·Honak, A.·Jiang, M.·Kenny, S.·Wierckx, N.·Perrin, R.·Averous, L.·Zimmermann, W.·O'Connor, K. E.·Blank, L. M.
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Abstract

Over 359 million tons of plastics were produced worldwide in 2018, with significant growth expected in the near future, resulting in the global challenge of end-of-life management. The recent identification of enzymes that degrade plastics previously considered non-biodegradable opens up opportunities to steer the plastic recycling industry into the realm of biotechnology. Here, we present the sequential conversion of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into two types of bioplastics: a medium chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and a novel bio-based poly(amide urethane) (bio-PU). PET films were hydrolyzed by a thermostable polyester hydrolase yielding 100% terephthalate and ethylene glycol. A terephthalate-degrading Pseudomonas was evolved to also metabolize ethylene glycol and subsequently produced PHA. The strain was further modified to secrete hydroxyalkanoyloxy-alkanoates (HAAs), which were used as monomers for the chemo-catalytic synthesis of bio-PU. In short, we present a novel value-chain for PET upcycling, adding technological flexibility to the global challenge of end-of-life management of plastics. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=130 SRC="FIGDIR/small/993592v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (24K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1433e0dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19efc71org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@cf97f7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@101f123_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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Tiso, T., Narancic, T., Wei, R., Pollet, E., Beagan, N., Schroeder, K., Honak, A., Jiang, M., Kenny, S., Wierckx, N., Perrin, R., Averous, L., Zimmermann, W., O'Connor, K. E., Blank, L. M.. 2020-03-18. Bio-upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.16.993592

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