Presentation Information
[P02-205]Bioremediation of PET in Seawater using Engineered Vibrio natriegens as Whole-cell Biocatalyst
○Gyu-Jin Lee1, Hanjoo Jo1, Hyuk Taek Kwon1, Sung In Lim1 (1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pukyong National University (Korea))
Keywords:
Marine bioremediation,Surface display system,Vibrio natriegens,PETase
[Purpose]
Marine microplastic pollution, largely derived from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poses significant ecological risks due to its persistence in seawater. Although PET hydrolase (PETase) enables enzymatic PET depolymerization, its application under saline conditions is limited by host incompatibility and reduced enzyme stability.
[Method]
Here, we engineered a halophilic whole-cell PETase system based on the marine bacterium Vibrio natriegens (Vn), which exhibits rapid growth and high salt tolerance. PETase was displayed on the cell surface via the Lpp–OmpA anchoring system, generating a functional whole-cell biocatalyst (Vn-PETase).
[Results]
Under marine-mimicking conditions (3.5% NaCl, 30 °C), Vn-PETase maintained robust growth and catalytic activity, achieving 96% hydrolysis of bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) within 6 h. Furthermore, an engineered Vn-FastPETase variant enabled in-situ depolymerization of PET films as well as micro- and nano-sized particles in artificial seawater, yielding terephthalic acid and mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate as degradation products.
[Conclusion]
These results establish V. natriegens as a marine-compatible host for whole-cell PET depolymerization and provide a foundation for the development of scalable biocatalytic systems for mitigating plastic pollution in marine environments.
Marine microplastic pollution, largely derived from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poses significant ecological risks due to its persistence in seawater. Although PET hydrolase (PETase) enables enzymatic PET depolymerization, its application under saline conditions is limited by host incompatibility and reduced enzyme stability.
[Method]
Here, we engineered a halophilic whole-cell PETase system based on the marine bacterium Vibrio natriegens (Vn), which exhibits rapid growth and high salt tolerance. PETase was displayed on the cell surface via the Lpp–OmpA anchoring system, generating a functional whole-cell biocatalyst (Vn-PETase).
[Results]
Under marine-mimicking conditions (3.5% NaCl, 30 °C), Vn-PETase maintained robust growth and catalytic activity, achieving 96% hydrolysis of bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) within 6 h. Furthermore, an engineered Vn-FastPETase variant enabled in-situ depolymerization of PET films as well as micro- and nano-sized particles in artificial seawater, yielding terephthalic acid and mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate as degradation products.
[Conclusion]
These results establish V. natriegens as a marine-compatible host for whole-cell PET depolymerization and provide a foundation for the development of scalable biocatalytic systems for mitigating plastic pollution in marine environments.
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