Functional and structural characterization of lipolytic enzymes from a microbe consortium specialized for diesel oil degradation.

Author(s)

Mariana Rangel Pereira

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB/SDI)
• Defense date: 2015-04-10

Examining board members

Eliana Gertrudes Macedo Lemos; Welington Luiz de Araujo; Janete Apparecida Desidério; Eleni Gomes; Luiziana Ferreira da Silva

• Advisor: Eliana Gertrudes Macedo Lemos; Andrea Balan Fernandes

Abstract

The global trade of industrial enzymes is estimated at 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, divided mainly between detergents (US$ 789 million), food applications (US$ 634 million), and agriculture (US$ 237 million). Within this trade, lipolytic enzymes have attracted enormous attention because of their biotechnological potential as catalysts of multiple reaction types (including hydrolysis, acidolysis, interesterification and glycerolysis). Lipolytic enzymes of microbial origin are economically attractive because they are easily biodegradable, usually act in mild conditions, and are chemo-selective, providing the pharmaceutical industry a method for obtaining drugs with reduced side effects. In this project, four individual genes encoding putative esterases/lipases identified in a metagenomic library obtained from a microbe consortium isolated from diesel oil-contaminated soil were cloned into expression vectors and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), and their corresponding recombinant proteins were used for functional and structural studies. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/09136-7 - Functional and Structural Characterization of Lipolitic Enzymes of Consortium Specialized on Diesel Oil Degradation
• Grantee: Mariana Rangel Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate