PET Degradation

These parts include the wild-type TfCut2 enzyme from Thermobifida fusca, alongside six engineered TfCut2 variants that are designed to enhance PET degradation efficiency.

BioBrick ID Name Type Category Function
BBa_25JE6FNZ TfCut2_5ZOA Cutinase B Wild-type TfCut2 cutinase from Thermobifida fusca that hydrolyzes PET by cleaving ester bonds, producing TPA (Furukawa et al., 2019).
BBa_25GGFEQS TfCut2_Variant 1 Cutinase B Mutant G62A/P193H/S197D; targets catalytic triad (H193, S194, D197), with G62A decreasing MHET binding.
BBa_25ZBXUY9 TfCut2_Variant 2 Cutinase B Mutant H77R/D204C/E253C; H77R enhances binding to PET and PBAT, D204C/E253C forms a stabilizing disulfide bridge.
BBa_250E9UVZ TfCut2_Variant 3 Cutinase B Mutant A65H/L90A/I213S; combines LCC-derived and high-efficiency mutations for enhanced degradation.
BBa_25JH17Z6 TfCut2_Variant 4 Cutinase B D12S mutation selected from MutCompute for enhanced stability in non-conserved region.
BBa_25WQ5BX1 TfCut2_Variant 5 Cutinase B T234L mutation, most stabilizing per MutCompute, though located in a conserved region.
BBa_25PC5VWY TfCut2_Variant 6 Cutinase B Multiple stabilizing mutations (excluding conserved residues) to improve thermostability.

B: Basic

C: Composite

Cellulose Degradation

This system includes three cellulases, BsEglS (endoglucanase) from B. subtilis and BhBglA (β-glucosidase) from B. halodurans, both selected from TU Dresden’s 2024 project for their high glucose yields, along with CfCbhA (exoglucanase) from C. fimi.

BioBrick ID Name Type Category Function
BBa_K5117001 BsEglS Endoglucanase B Cleaves internal β-1,4 glycosidic bonds to generate oligosaccharides, enhancing cellulose accessibility (MacKay et al., 1986).
BBa_K5117007 BhBglA β-Glucosidase B Hydrolyzes terminal β-D-glucosyl residues to release glucose (Naz et al., 2010).
BBa_25XGLK8T CfCbhA Cellobiohydrolase B Hydrolyzes cellulose ends to release cellobiose (Meinke et al., 1994; Liu & Yu, 2012).

B: Basic

C: Composite

TPA Sensor System

This system uses a TPA-inducible promoter that activates in response to terephthalic acid (TPA), a product of PET degradation, triggering downstream gene expression for biosensing.

BioBrick ID Name Type Category Function
BBa_J428032 B0030-m0 RBS B Ribosome binding site assembled via Golden Gate Assembly.
BBa_J23100 J23100 Constitutive promoter B Initiates transcription and regulates expression levels.
BBa_J428092 B0015 Terminator B Stops transcription.
BBa_J435100 CIAP CDS B Reporter enzyme to monitor phosphate-based color change.
BBa_J435096 Beta-lactamase CDS B Detects TPA via nitrocefin color shift from yellow to red.
BBa_K4728001 TphR Transcriptional Regulator B TPA-responsive transcriptional regulator for promoter activation (Kasai et al., 2010).
BBa_K4728019 TPA Transporters Transporter system C Tripartite transporter system enabling TPA uptake (Gautom et al., 2021).
BBa_K4728000 TPA-inducible promoter Promoter B Activated by TphR in presence of TPA (Kasai et al., 2010).

B: Basic

C: Composite

References

  • Furukawa, M., Kawakami, N., Tomizawa, A., & Miyamoto, K. (2019). Efficient Degradation of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) with Thermobifida fusca Cutinase Exhibiting Improved Catalytic Activity Generated using Mutagenesis and Additive-based Approaches. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-52379-z
  • Gautom, T. et al. (2021). Structural basis of terephthalate recognition by solute binding protein TphC. Nature Communications, 12(1), 6244. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26508-0
  • Kasai, D. et al. (2010). Transcriptional regulation of the terephthalate catabolism operon in Comamonas sp. strain E6. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(18), 6047–6055. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00742-10
  • Liu, M., & Yu, H. (2012). Co-production of a whole cellulase system in Escherichia coli. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 69, 204-210. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369703X12002719
  • MacKay, R. M. et al. (1986). Structure of a Bacillus subtilis endo-beta-1,4-glucanase gene. Nucleic Acids Research, 14(22), 9159-70. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/14.22.9159
  • Meinke, A. et al. (1994). Cellobiohydrolase A (CbhA) from the cellulolytic bacterium Cellulomonas fimi. Molecular Microbiology, 12(3), 413–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01030.x
  • Naz, S. et al. (2010). Enhanced production and characterization of a beta-glucosidase from Bacillus halodurans expressed in Escherichia coli. Biochemistry (Moscow), 75(4), 513–525. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297910040164