Tolerance and bacterial degradation of ferulic acid and prospection of the enzyme ferulic acid decarboxylase

• Grant number: 18/21030-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Eleni Gomes
• Grantee: Sylvia Patricia de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The processing of lignocellulosic biomass to obtain sugars (hexoses or pentoses) involves several steps, as the separation of lignin by chemical processes in which results in the production of aromatic compounds such as ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) that has high value added, as well as its derivatives. In previous work the research group of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Applied Microbiology / Ibilce / Unesp has been isolated bacterial strains capable of tolerating phenolic compounds, to biotransform them or to use them as carbon source. In this project, some of these bacteria will be evaluated focusing on the tolerance to ferulic acid and its biotransformation, in order to determine the metabolic derivatives generated, focusing mainly on 4-vinyl guaiacol. Another proposal is to detect the activity of the ferulic acid decarboxylase enzyme which is the key enzyme in the biotransformation process of ferulic acid.