Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Issue: 1

License: [{"start"=>{"date-parts"=>[[2021, 10, 29]], "date-time"=>"2021-10-29T00:00:00Z", "timestamp"=>1635465600000}, "content-version"=>"tdm", "delay-in-days"=>0, "URL"=>"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"}, {"start"=>{"date-parts"=>[[2021, 10, 29]], "date-time"=>"2021-10-29T00:00:00Z", "timestamp"=>1635465600000}, "content-version"=>"vor", "delay-in-days"=>0, "URL"=>"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"}]

Publication date(s): 2021/12/29 (online)

Pages:

Volume: 12 Issue: 1

Journal: Nature Communications

Link: [{"URL"=>"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26508-0.pdf", "content-type"=>"application/pdf", "content-version"=>"vor", "intended-application"=>"text-mining"}, {"URL"=>"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26508-0", "content-type"=>"text/html", "content-version"=>"vor", "intended-application"=>"text-mining"}, {"URL"=>"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26508-0.pdf", "content-type"=>"application/pdf", "content-version"=>"vor", "intended-application"=>"similarity-checking"}]

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26508-0

AbstractBiological degradation of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic and assimilation of the corresponding monomers ethylene glycol and terephthalate (TPA) into central metabolism offers an attractive route for bio-based molecular recycling and bioremediation applications. A key step is the cellular uptake of the non-permeable TPA into bacterial cells which has been shown to be dependent upon the presence of the key tphC gene. However, little is known from a biochemical and structural perspective about the encoded solute binding protein, TphC. Here, we report the biochemical and structural characterisation of TphC in both open and TPA-bound closed conformations. This analysis demonstrates the narrow ligand specificity of TphC towards aromatic para-substituted dicarboxylates, such as TPA and closely related analogues. Further phylogenetic and genomic context analysis of the tph genes reveals homologous operons as a genetic resource for future biotechnological and metabolic engineering efforts towards circular plastic bio-economy solutions.