Bacterial cutinases are promising catalysts for the modification and degradation of the widely used plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The improvement of the enzyme for industrial purposes is limited due to the lack of structural information for cutinases of bacterial origin. We have crystallized and structurally characterized a cutinase from Thermobifida fusca KW3 (TfCut2) in free as well as in inhibitor-bound form. Together with our analysis of the thermal stability and modelling studies, we suggest possible reasons for the outstanding thermostability in comparison to the less thermostable homolog from Thermobifida alba AHK119 and propose a model for the binding of the enzyme towards its polymeric substrate. The TfCut2 structure is the basis for the rational design of catalytically more efficient enzyme variants for the hydrolysis of PET and other synthetic polyesters.

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Recent studies on the enzymatic degradation of synthetic polyesters have shown the potential of polyester hydrolases from thermophilic actinomycetes for modifying or degrading polyethylene terephthalate (PET). TfCut2 from Thermobifida fusca KW3 and LC-cutinase (LCC) isolated from a compost metagenome are remarkably active polyester hydrolases with high sequence and structural similarity. Both enzymes exhibit an exposed active site in a substrate binding groove located at the protein surface. By exchanging selected amino acid residues of TfCut2 involved in substrate binding with those present in LCC, enzyme variants with increased PET hydrolytic activity at 65°C were obtained. The highest activity in hydrolyzing PET films and fibers were detected with the single variant G62A and the double variant G62A/I213S. Both variants caused a weight loss of PET films of more than 42% after 50 h of hydrolysis, corresponding to a 2.7-fold increase compared to the wild type enzyme. Kinetic analysis based on the released PET hydrolysis products confirmed the superior hydrolytic activity of G62A with a fourfold higher hydrolysis rate constant and a 1.5-fold lower substrate binding constant than those of the wild type enzyme. Mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate is a strong inhibitor of TfCut2. A determination of the Rosetta binding energy suggested a reduced interaction of G62A with 2PET, a dimer of the PET monomer ethylene terephthalate. Indeed, G62A revealed a 5.5-fold lower binding constant to the inhibitor than the wild type enzyme indicating that its increased PET hydrolysis activity is the result of a relieved product inhibition by mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1658-1665. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Earth is flooded with plastics and the need for sustainable recycling strategies for polymers has become increasingly urgent. Enzyme‐based hydrolysis of post‐consumer plastic is an emerging strategy for closed‐loop recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The polyester hydrolase PHL7, isolated from a compost metagenome, completely hydrolyzes amorphous PET films, releasing 91 mg of terephthalic acid per hour and mg of enzyme. Vertical scanning interferometry shows degradation rates of the PET film of 6.8 μm h−1. Structural analysis indicates the importance of leucine at position 210 for the extraordinarily high PET‐hydrolyzing activity of PHL7. Within 24 h, 0.6 mgenzyme gPET−1 completely degrades post‐consumer thermoform PET packaging in an aqueous buffer at 70 °C without any energy‐intensive pretreatments. Terephthalic acid recovered from the enzymatic hydrolysate is then used to synthesize virgin PET, demonstrating the potential of polyester hydrolases as catalysts in sustainable PET recycling processes with a low carbon footprint.

TfCut2 from Thermobifida fusca KW3 and the metagenome-derived LC-cutinase are bacterial polyester hydrolases capable of efficiently degrading polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films. Since the enzymatic PET hydrolysis is inhibited by the degradation intermediate mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET), a dual enzyme system consisting of a polyester hydrolase and the immobilized carboxylesterase TfCa from Thermobifida fusca KW3 was employed for the hydrolysis of PET films at 60°C. HPLC analysis of the reaction products obtained after 24 h of hydrolysis showed an increased amount of soluble products with a lower proportion of MHET in the presence of the immobilized TfCa. The results indicated a continuous hydrolysis of the inhibitory MHET by the immobilized TfCa and demonstrated its advantage as a second biocatalyst in combination with a polyester hydrolase for an efficient degradation oft PET films. The dual enzyme system with LC-cutinase produced a 2.4-fold higher amount of degradation products compared to TfCut2 after a reaction time of 24 h confirming the superior activity of his polyester hydrolase against PET films.