Engineering novel and improved biocatalysts using cell surface display

Introduction

By definition, biocatalysis is the use of natural catalysts to mediate chemical transformations in applications for which they have not naturally evolved. However, biocatalysis encompasses a continuum of two distinct but closely related subfields – biotransformation and fermentation. Here, we focus on the application of biocatalysts as biotransformants and review the history and scope of biocatalysis in biochemical engineering. The use of biocatalysts offers a great promise in the processes of synthetic chemistry, but tapping into its potential for industrial applications has depended strongly on advancements in biotechnological innovations, both for improving our understanding of biocatalyst functioning and for the evolution of new engineering strategies. As a result, biocatalysis has become a critical tool in the past decade for expanding applications in the biochemical industry.

Evolution of Biocatalysis

The utilization of fermentation-mediating enzymes catalysts for the production and preservation of foodstuffs is known to predate recorded history. Among others, a major cornerstone in the field of enzyme technology was the utilization of cell free yeast extracts (now known to be the enzyme zymase) for the fermentation of sugar by Eduard Buchner: this dispelled the frequently cited notion that the presence of living cells is a necessary requirement of biotransformation[1][2]. The paradigm shift to biocatalysis in synthetic chemistry was found its origins in the production of (R)-mandelonitrile from benzaldehdye and hydrogen cyanide in the presence of a bitter almonds emulsin extract (an oxynitrilases-containing enzyme mixture) by Rosenthaler, the first demonstration of modern biocatalysis[1][3][4][32].

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