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Critical enzyme reactions in aromatic catabolism for microbial lignin conversion

Nature Catalysis volume 5, pages 86–98 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The application of microbes to valorize aromatic compounds derived from the abundant plant biopolymer lignin is a rapidly developing area of research that may ultimately enable viable conversion of this recalcitrant and heterogeneous resource to valuable bio-based chemical products. Starting from the three canonical lignin building blocks, which differ in the extent of aromatic ring methoxylation, several common classes of enzymatic reaction occur in the upper pathways of aromatic catabolism to prepare aromatic compounds for assimilation into central carbon metabolism, including aromatic O-demethylation, hydroxylation and decarboxylation. These critical enzymatic steps can often be rate-limiting for efficient biological funnelling of aromatic compounds. Here we review the known enzymatic mechanisms for these reactions that are relevant for aerobic aromatic catabolism of lignin-related monomers, highlighting opportunities at the intersection of biochemistry, enzyme engineering and metabolic engineering for applications in the expanding field of microbial lignin valorization.

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Fig. 1: Activation of lignin-relevant compounds.
Fig. 2: Three strategies for aromatic O-demethylation.
Fig. 3: Strategies for aromatic hydroxylation.
Fig. 4: Reductive and oxidative strategies for aromatic decarboxylation.
Fig. 5: Forms and functions of flavin cofactors in the catabolism of LRCs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank many of our colleagues for helpful discussions that informed the topics covered in this Review, including P. Abraham, R. Giannone, A. Guss, R. Hettich, C. Johnson, C. Maranas, J. Michener, E. Neidle and D. Salvachúa, among many others. This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy for the US Department of Energy (DOE) under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308. E.E., A.B., E.K., A.Z.W. and G.T.B. are supported by The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), a US DOE Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) in the DOE Office of Science. G.T.B. also thanks the US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). L.D.E. is the recipient of a Canada Research Chair. L.D.E.’s research on lignin has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Genome BC and Genome Canada. J.E.M. acknowledges Research England for E3 funding. The views expressed in the Review do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US Government. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the Article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allows others to do so, for US Government purposes.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Erika Erickson, Alissa Bleem, Eugene Kuatsjah, Allison Z. Werner.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA

    Erika Erickson, Alissa Bleem, Eugene Kuatsjah, Allison Z. Werner & Gregg T. Beckham

  2. Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Erika Erickson, Alissa Bleem, Eugene Kuatsjah, Allison Z. Werner & Gregg T. Beckham

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA

    Jennifer L. DuBois

  4. Centre for Enzyme Innovation, School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK

    John E. McGeehan

  5. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, BioProducts Institute, and the Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Lindsay D. Eltis

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E.E., A.B., E.K., A.Z.W., J.L.D., J.E.M., L.D.E. and G.T.B. wrote the manuscript and designed the figures. All authors edited the manuscript before submission.

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Erickson, E., Bleem, A., Kuatsjah, E. et al. Critical enzyme reactions in aromatic catabolism for microbial lignin conversion. Nat Catal 5, 86–98 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-022-00747-w

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