NAD-dependent formate dehydrogenase (FDH) from Candida boidinii (CbFDH) has been widely used in various CO2-reduction systems but its practical applications are often impeded due to low CO2-reducing activity. In this study, we demonstrated superior CO2-reducing properties of FDH from Thiobacillus sp. KNK65MA (TsFDH) for production of formate from CO2 gas. To discover more efficient CO2-reducing FDHs than a reference enzyme, i.e. CbFDH, five FDHs were selected with biochemical properties and then, their CO2-reducing activities were evaluated. All FDHs including CbFDH showed better CO2-reducing activities at acidic pHs than at neutral pHs and four FDHs were more active than CbFDH in the CO2 reduction reaction. In particular, the FDH from Thiobacillus sp. KNK65MA (TsFDH) exhibited the highest CO2-reducing activity and had a dramatic preference for the reduction reaction, i.e., a 84.2-fold higher ratio of CO2 reduction to formate oxidation in catalytic efficiency (k cat/K B) compared to CbFDH. Formate was produced from CO2 gas using TsFDH and CbFDH, and TsFDH showed a 5.8-fold higher formate production rate than CbFDH. A sequence and structural comparison showed that FDHs with relatively high CO2-reducing activities had elongated N- and C-terminal loops. The experimental results demonstrate that TsFDH can be an alternative to CbFDH as a biocatalyst in CO2 reduction systems.

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Artificial wood films containing cellulose, xylan, and lignin were easily prepared by the dissolution of wood components in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate followed by reconstitution with distilled water. The composition and characteristics of wood films were highly controllable and predictable through the variation of the concentration of each component in the wood solution. The water vapor solubility of the wood films was increased when the xylan content was increased and the content of lignin was decreased. The biodegradability of the artificial wood films was investigated with cellulase from Trichoderma viride. The relative degradability of the wood film prepared with 5% cellulose and 5% lignin was 42%, whereas that of the wood film made with 5% cellulose and 5% xylan was 189%. The biodegradability of cellulose in the wood films correlated well with the content of xylan and lignin, and it was enhanced when the xylan content was increased and the content of lignin was decreased.