Bacterial Enzymes and Bioprocesses for Lignin Valorisation

Project Information

B-LigZymes

Grant agreement ID: 824017

DOI

10.3030/824017

Project closed

EC signature date 13 November 2018

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 July 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 1 025 800,00

EU contribution

€ 970 600,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - B-LigZymes (Bacterial Enzymes and Bioprocesses for Lignin Valorisation)

Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

B-LigZymes is an international, interdisciplinary and intersectorial H2020 RISE project that directly addresses current limitations in lignin degradation by generating technological and economical solutions inspired by fundamental research. B-LigZymes provides a holistic view for the development of biocatalytic processes involved inthe valorisation of lignin.

The B-LigZymes consortium is composed of 8 academic organizations, 5 of which are located in Europe (Portugal, The Netherlands, Italy and Germany), 1 in the United States and 2 in Argentina, and and 3 non-academic organizations located in Spain, Netherlands and Finland. The B-LigZymes programme foster collaborations across sectors, disciplines and countries and a shared culture of research & innovation (R&I) that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship. The existent complementarity among Beneficiary Organizations and partners enables bi-directional international and intersectorial staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and ideas from research to market and vice-versa.


These activities will be additionally nurtured by wide network training events, such as workshops, where the contribution of members with different expertise will bring a synergistic effect. Overall, the networking activities proposed will allow research members to develop new R&I and transferable skills that will boost future career opportunities, strengthening Europe’s human capital, competitiveness and growth and, contributing for a knowledge-based economy and society, in accordance to the expected objectives and impact of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE)‘s call.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

WP1- Ethics Requirements: The deliverables concerning the ethics requirements set out on the WP1 Ethics requirements were all accomplished and submitted.

WP2- Catalytic and structural fingerprints of new enzymes: A list of Enzymes was identified during the period M1-M9. It was described the production and characterization of isoeugenol monooxygenase from Pseudomonas nitroreducens and bioconversion into vanillin by whole cell reactions done at ITQB. Additionally, it was performed a characterization of a new DyP-peroxidase from the alkaliphilic cellulomonad, Cellulomonas bogoriensis at RUG. Finally an identification of novel bacterial β-etherases by database mining was made with collaboration of TUBS.

WP3 New engineered high performance enzymes: The aim was the engineering of bacterial ligninolytic enzymes with improved stability and enhanced oxidation efficiency towards lignin-related substrates. The enzymes engineered during the period M1-M9 were described on the deliverable D3.1 - First-generation engineered enzymes. Additionally, we have also improved AsP2Ox for D-glucose, a bacterial pyranose 2-oxidase from Pseudoarthrobacter siccitolerans, done the evolution of McoA from Aquifex aeolicus for lignin-related substrates and redesigned the substrate specificity of McoP a hyperthermostable metalloxidase from Pyrobaculum aerophilum at ITQB. The protein engineering of β-etherases LigE and LigF for improved activity in β-O-4 ary ether bond cleavage was performed at TUBS.

WP4 Design and set-up of enzymatic processes:The tasks of the WP4 - Design and set-up of enzymatic bioprocesses targeted at lignin valorization have just started.

WP5 Knowledge sharing and training: Ten secondments were performed in the first 12 months of the project.

WP6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation: The project B-LigZymes has putted in place a dissemination and communication strategy of the project achievements through raising public and scientific awareness and facilitating interaction with scientific and non-scientific audiences.
See details on the website of the project. https://www.itqb.unl.pt/b-ligzymes

WP7 Project and consortium management:The B-LigZymes RISE project started with the Kick-Off meeting. The main project´s rules, including a Consortium Agreement for the establishment of a Project fund were presented and discussed. The required material (e.g secondments plan, work to be carried out by each partner) was provided by the coordinator. The secondments organisation and work plan to be carried out during the first year was discussed. IPR was considered on the Consortium Agreement. The Consortium agreement was signed by all partners during March, 2019. Two amendments were submitted and approved to include UNIVE and GECCO on the consortium.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

B-LigZymes Dissemination activities

At the start of the project a press-release was launched. See updated information here:
- Website: www.itqb.unl.pt/b-ligzymes
- Twitter: twitter.com/bligzymes
- linkedin.com/in/b-ligzymes-rise-european-commission-project/

Communication with general public:
- European Researchers Night 2019
- ITQB Open Day 2019
- European Researchers Night 2020
- Booklet “The Fundamentals Of Bioeconomy - The Biobased Society” from Lene Lange* was distributed on the events and online. (* The Technical University of Denmark, DTU in collaboration with Jane Lindedam, BioValue SPIR. 3F United Federation of Danish Workers
- Biotechnology for a circular economy - Lab Demo vídeo
- Enzymes and a circular economy - Do you know how to get there? - QUIZ
- ITQB Open Day 2021 (online)
- European Researchers Night in September at Marina de Oeiras in Lisbon
- Info Session (online) on the MSCActions 2021 Staff Exchange call for proposals represented by Zymvol's CEO Maria Fátima Lucas - winner of the Prize for Women Innovators 2020.

Conferences

o Conference BIOTRANS2019 in Groningen,NL 7th-9th July 2019
o Conference Microbiotec’19 at University of Coimbra, Portugal 5th-7th December 2019
o Protein Engineering Congress, USA July 2020
o Protein Engineering Congress, EU Nov 2020
o Biocatalysis Open Day - 26th November, 2020 (B-LigZymes, METGEN, GECCO and ZYMVOL offered Gold and Silver sponsorship.)

Seminars

o Master of Biotechnology for Sustainability at ITQB NOVA, Oeiras, 28th February, 2019
o Short Training Workshop B- LigZymes on “Bacterial Oxidoreductases for Lignin Valorization” – Groningen, NL - July 2019
o 1st Hand-on Computational Enzyme Design Course, BRNO,CZ - February 2020
o "Innovative Solutions to Valorize Lignin" GECCO, online – June 2020

Lectures

o “Computational Laccases engineering” & “Computational approaches to unveil structure-function relationships of oxidoreductases” – July 2019. It was part of the the Masterclass "Computational Approaches and In Silico Enzyme Library Design for Applied Biocatalysis" (2-5 July).
o “Bacterial Oxidoreductases for Lignin Valorization” (7 July) on use computer simulations to redesign oxidoreductases.
o Seminars of the PhD Programme in Chemistry, UNIVE, July 2019
o 1st Hand-on Computational Enzyme Design Course, BRNO,CZ - February 2020

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