Biocatalysis in the Modification of Fats and Oils for Oleochemistry

Lipases and related enzymes (esterase, different phospholipases) are currently used as biocatalysts in a broad range of lipid modifications [1].
In this lecture, the identification of novel esterases/lipases from the metagenome will be shown highlighting the discovery of biocatalysts with certain fatty acid chain-length profiles [2]. Furthermore, methods for the identification and immobilization of desired enzymes using a microtiterplate (MTP) based method [3, 4] will be presented. An example for protein engineering deals with a lipase from Rhizopus oryzae (ROL), which was engineered to increase its stability toward lipid oxidation products such as aldehydes with the aim of improving its performance in oleochemical industries. Key to success was the saturation mutagenesis of selected Lys and His residues combined with a MTP-based high-throughput screening of stable variants [5]. Furthermore, the use of ionic liquids as media for the synthesis of sugar fatty acid esters will be covered [6].
[1] Bornscheuer U.T. (Ed.) Enzymes in Lipid Modification, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim; Metzger, J.O., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2006), Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 71, 13-22.
[2] Bertram, M. Hildebrandt, P., Weiner, D.W., Patel, J. S., Bartnek, F., Hitchman, T., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2008), J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 85, 47-53
[3] Bertram. M., Manschot-Lawrence, C., Flöter, E., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2007) Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 109, 180-185
[4] Brandt, B., Hidalgo, A., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2006), Biotech. J., 1, 582-587.
[5] DiLorenzo, M., Hidalgo, A., Molina, R., Hermoso, J.A., Pirozzi, D., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2007), Appl. Environm. Microbiol. 73, 7291-7299.
[6] Ganske, F., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2005), J. Mol. Catal. B: Enzym., 36, 40-42; Ganske, F., Bornscheuer, U.T. (2005), Org. Lett., 7, 3097-3098.