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Title: Proteomes reveal metabolic capabilities of Yarrowia lipolytica for biological upcycling of polyethylene into high-value chemicals

Journal Article · · mSystems

Polyolefins derived from plastic wastes are recalcitrant for biological upcycling. However, chemical depolymerization of polyolefins can generate depolymerized plastic (DP) oil, comprising of a complex mixture of saturated, unsaturated, even, and odd hydrocarbons suitable for biological conversion. While DP oil contains a rich carbon and energy source, it is inhibitory to cells. Understanding and harnessing robust metabolic capabilities of microorganisms to upcycle the hydrocarbons in DP oil, both naturally and unnaturally occurring, into high-value chemicals are limited. Here, we discovered that an oleaginous yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica, undergoing short-term adaptation to DP oil robustly utilized a wide range of hydrocarbons for cell growth and production of citric acid and neutral lipids. When growing on hydrocarbons, Y. lipolytica partitioned into planktonic and oil-bound cells with each exhibiting distinct proteomes and amino acid distributions invested in establishing these proteomes. Significant proteome reallocation toward energy and lipid metabolism, belonging to 2 of the 23 Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups classes C and I, enabled robust growth of Y. lipolytica on hydrocarbons, with n-hexadecane as the preferential substrate. This investment was even higher for growth on DP oil where classes C and I were ranked one and two, respectively, and many associated proteins and pathways were expressed and upregulated including the hydrocarbon degradation pathway, Krebs cycle, glyoxylate shunt and, unexpectedly, propionate metabolism. However, a reduction in proteome allocation for protein biosynthesis, at the expense of the observed increase toward energy and lipid metabolisms, might have caused the inhibitory effect of DP oil on cell growth.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019412; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
2203789
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2205426; OSTI ID: 2205711
Journal Information:
mSystems, Journal Name: mSystems Vol. 8 Journal Issue: 6; ISSN 2379-5077
Publisher:
American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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