Metabolic Engineering of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from eucalyptus kraft lignin

• Grant number: 24/12848-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: November 19, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Anuj Kumar
• Grantee: Alzira Aparecida Pereira
• Supervisor: Joshua Shuhua Yuan
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Washington University in St. Louis, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/05214-8 - Bacterial valorization of kraft lignin for PHA production through metagenomic sequencing of pulp-ligcon microbial community, BP.DD

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polyesters synthesized by bacteria such as Pseudomonas putida, Ralstonia eutropha and Cupriavidus basilensis. PHAs are considered platform molecules for bioplastics, potentially replacing synthetic plastics. This project involves the oxidative alkaline depolymerization of eucalyptus kraft lignin to recover aromatic compounds (syringaldehyde, syringic acid, acetosyringone, vanillin, vanillic acid and acetovanillone) using a method developed by our research group. Metagenomic analysis of a previously developed microbial consortium will help predict genetic models, bacterial genomes, metabolic pathways, and genes related to PHA production from lignin fragments. The BEPE research proposal aims to develop strategies for building metabolic pathways involving cloning and gene expression in Pseudomonas putida KT2440, enabling the use of aromatics from eucalyptus kraft lignin. Escherichia coli BL21 will also be engineered to validate gene cloning and expression for aromatic catabolism.