Insights into E. coli Cyclopropane Fatty Acid Synthase (CFAS) Towards Enantioselective Carbene Free Biocatalytic Cyclopropanation.

Cyclopropane fatty acid synthases (CFAS) are a class of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) dependent methyltransferase enzymes able to catalyse the cyclopropanation of unsaturated phospholipids. Since CFAS enzymes employ SAM as a methylene source to cyclopropanate alkene substrates, they have the potential to be mild and more sustainable biocatalysts for cyclopropanation transformations than current carbene-based approaches. This work describes the characterisation of E.

Learning Strategies in Protein Directed Evolution.

Synthetic biology is a fast-evolving research field that combines biology and engineering principles to develop new biological systems for medical, pharmacological, and industrial applications. Synthetic biologists use iterative "design, build, test, and learn" cycles to efficiently engineer genetic systems that are reliable, reproducible, and predictable. Protein engineering by directed evolution can benefit from such a systematic engineering approach for various reasons.

A Xylenol Orange-Based Screening Assay for the Substrate Specificity of Flavin-Dependent para-Phenol Oxidases.

Vanillyl alcohol oxidase (VAO) and eugenol oxidase (EUGO) are flavin-dependent enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of -substituted phenols. This makes them potentially interesting biocatalysts for the conversion of lignin-derived aromatic monomers to value-added compounds. To facilitate their biocatalytic exploitation, it is important to develop methods by which variants of the enzymes can be rapidly screened for increased activity towards substrates of interest.