Advancing Desulfurization in the Model Biocatalyst IGTS8 via an Combinatorial Approach.

Biodesulfurization poses as an ideal replacement to the high cost hydrodesulfurization of the recalcitrant heterocyclic sulfur compounds, such as dibenzothiophene (DBT) and its derivatives. The increasingly stringent limits on fuel sulfur content intensify the need for improved desulfurization biocatalysts, without sacrificing the calorific value of the fuel. Selective sulfur removal in a wide range of biodesulfurization strains, as well as in the model biocatalyst Rhodococcus qingshengii IGTS8, occurs via the 4S metabolic pathway that involves the operon, which encodes enzymes that catalyze the generation of 2-hydroxybiphenyl and sulfite from DBT.