Harnessing Glycerol from Biodiesel Fuel Production to Obtain Valuable Industrial Compounds

C.M. FIGUEROA; C.V. PIATTONI; M.D. ASENCIÓN DIEZ; R.A. COMELLI; S.A. GUERRERO; A.J. BECCARIA; A.A. IGLESIAS

San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina

Congreso; XLV Reunión Anual de SAIB; 2009

SAIB

BT-P03.HARNESSING GLYCEROL FROM BIODIESEL FUELPRODUCTION TO OBTAIN VALUABLE INDUSTRIALCOMPOUNDSFigueroa CM1; Piattoni CV1; Asención Diez MD1; Comelli R2;Guerrero SA1; Beccaria AJ1; Iglesias AA11IAL and 2INCAPE (UNL-CONICET), 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina.E-mail: carfigue@fbcb.unl.edu.arGlycerol (Gro) has many appliances in the cosmetic, food, andpharmaceutical industries. However, Gro has become aninexpensive carbon source due to its generation as inevitable byproductof biodiesel production, a process with outstandinggrowing within the last decade. In addition, the excess of Gro hasenvironmental problems since it is not innocuous and its disposalturns complex. Thus, conversion of low-priced Gro streams tohigher value products, such as 1,3-propanediol ordihydroxyacetone (DHA), has been proposed as relevantbiorefinery strategies. Many organisms are able to metabolize Gro,and their enzymes are key targets in the bioconversion of thiscompound. In this work we have cloned and expressed the geneencoding for Gro dehydrogenase (GroDHase) in Escherichia coli.The enzyme converts Gro into DHA. The recombinant enzyme waspurified to near homogeneity either by IMAC or heat shocktreatment. We have analyzed the activity assay conditions anddetermined the S values for both substrates, NAD+ (0.5 mM) and 0.5Gro (100 mM). The maximum activity was reached at pH 11.0 and40 ºC. NH Cl was found to be an activator of GroDHase, reducing 4(4-fold) the S for Gro and increasing (1.5-fold) the V . Gro waste 0.5 maxderived from biodiesel production was an effective substrate for theenzyme, which supports the biotechnological application of therecombinant GroDHase.