Self-sufficient redox biotransformation of lignin-related benzoic acids with Aspergillus flavus

MARTÍN PALAZZOLO; MARÍA LAURA MASCOTTI; ELIZABETH LEWKOWICZ; MARCELA KURINA

JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Lugar: HEIDELBERG; Año: 2015 vol. 42 p. 1581 - 1589

1367-5435

Aromatic carboxylic acids are readily obtainedfrom lignin in biomass processing facilities. However, efficienttechnologies for lignin valorization are missing. Inthis work, a microbial screening was conducted to find versatilebiocatalysts capable of transforming several benzoicacids structurally related to lignin, employing vanillic acidas model substrate. The wild-type Aspergillus flavus growingcells exhibited exquisite selectivity towards the oxidativedecarboxylation product, 2-methoxybenzene-1,4-diol.Interestingly, when assaying a set of structurally relatedsubstrates, the biocatalyst displayed the oxidative removalof the carboxyl moiety or its reduction to the primary alcoholwhether electron withdrawing or donating groups werepresent in the aromatic ring, respectively. Additionally, A.flavus proved to be highly tolerant to vanillic acid increasingconcentrations (up to 8 g/L), demonstrating its potentialapplication in chemical synthesis. A. flavus growing cellswere found to be efficient biotechnological tools to performself-sufficient, structure-dependent redox reactions.