Engineered Leaf-Branch Compost Cutinase with Enhanced PET Degradation Across a Broad Temperature Range.

ABSTRACT: Enzymatic recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) possesses several advantages over chemical and physical recycling methods. However, many currently identified PET degrading enzymes perform poorly under industrially relevant conditions. From a library of leaf and branch compost cutinase (LCC) variants engineered based on substitutions known to affect PET-degrading activity in homologous enzymes, a quadruple LCC variant (H218S-F243T-D238C-S283C) is discovered that hydrolyzes 90% of 9% crystalline PET microparticles in 17.0 ± 3.4 h at 70°C and also reaches >90% conversion at 55°C and 62°C. This novel variant produces 15.6 ± 0.3 g TPA L^-1 h^-1 at 70°C over 12 h and has a melting temperature of 82.1°C. Continuous evaluation of PET degradation used a pH stat to meas

SUBMITTER: Ramnath KG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12767270 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature