Discovery of carbamate degrading enzymes by functional metagenomics

Lisa Ufarté (1) , Elisabeth Laville (1) , Sophie Duquesne (1) , Diego Morgavi (2) , Patrick Robe (3) , Christophe C. Klopp (4) , Angeline Rizzo (1) , Sandra Pizzut-Serin (1) , Gabrielle Potocki-Veronese (1)

1 LISBP - Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Procédés
2 UMRH - Unité Mixte de Recherche sur les Herbivores - UMR 1213
3 LibraGenSA
4 MIAT INRA - Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse

Bioremediation of pollutants is a major concern worldwide, leading to the research of new processes to break down and recycle xenobiotics and environment contaminating polymers. Among them, carbamates have a very broad spectrum of uses, such as toxinogenic pesticides or elastomers. In this study, we mined the bovine rumen microbiome for carbamate degrading enzymes. We isolated 26 hit clones exhibiting esterase activity, and were able to degrade at least one of the targeted polyurethane and pesticide carbamate compounds. The most active clone was deeply characterized. In addition to Impranil, this clone was active on Tween 20, pNP-acetate, butyrate and palmitate, and on the insecticide fenobucarb. Sequencing and sub-cloning of the best target revealed a novel carboxyl-ester hydrolase belonging to the lipolytic family IV, named CE_Ubrb. This study highlights the potential of highly diverse microbiota such as the ruminal one for the discovery of promiscuous enzymes, whose versatility could be exploited for industrial uses.

Mots clés: pollutant; thiocarbamates; biodegradation

Mots clés: composé xénobiotique; polymère; polluant; carbamate; séquençage; rumen; microbiote

Domaines: Biotechnologies

Lisa Ufarté, Elisabeth Laville, Sophie Duquesne, Diego Morgavi, Patrick Robe, et al.. Discovery of carbamate degrading enzymes by functional metagenomics. PLoS ONE, 2017, 12 (12), 21 p. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0189201⟩. ⟨hal-01886441⟩