Plant Hydrolases Obtained from South American Biomass for the Synthesis of High-Value Compounds

MORCELLE, S.R.

Congreso; XIII REUNIAO REGIONAL NORDESTE DA SBBq; 2016

INTRODUCTION. Biocatalysis is a discipline that is at the interface of biology, synthetic organic chemistry and reaction engineering, and is a key tool for the development of the so-called ?white biotechnology?. Since biocatalysis fits perfectly with the increasing demands of clean chemical production, the search for novel enzymes with distinctive characteristics or as alternative to those commercially available, is of utmost importance. The exploration of enzymes belonging to native and/or acclimated flora can lead to the discovery and development of biocatalysts with outstanding properties. Hydrolases (peptidases and lipases) are, from the economic point of view, the most important ones in the worldwide enzyme market.OBJETIVES: Because of South America great biodiversity, we propose the study of this kind of enzymes in different plant species grown in our region, and their potential use as biocatalysts for the synthesis of peptides and peptide-related compounds, as well as in esters formation.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peptidases were obtained from different Apocynaceae species (Araujia sericifera, Asclepias curassavica, Funastrum clausum) and from Bromeliaceae (Bromelia hieronymi). Determination of the best water:miscible organic solvent mixtures for the proposed reactions was made through means of espectroscopic studies (ATR-FTIR and fluorescence) of structural changes of papain as the model plant protease in this kind of media. Strategies for peptide, peptide alcohol/aldehydes and lipoamino acids syntheses were performed in the selected media. On the other hand, investigation of the presence of lipolytic activity and its characterization in Araujia sericifera and Calotropis procera lattices were also made.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Solvent mixtures containing acetonitrile were the most suitable for the proposed reactions catalyzed by proteases, the structural alterations caused minimally effects on enzymatic activity. According to the reaction proposed and the expected product, yields ranged from 20 to almost 100%, showing the great flexibility of the S1? enzymes subsite to accept substrates different to amino acids (such as amino alcohols and fatty amines), and a more rigid S1 subsite. Interestingly, lipase activity could be detected in the insoluble fraction of the mentioned plant species, and proved to be a promising biocatalyst for biodiesel generation. CONCLUSIONS: Peptidases and lipases from native plant species demonstrated to be excellent biocatalysts in the production of compounds of interest for the pharma industry, as well as in the biorrefinery sector.