Conversion of Polyethylenes into Fungal Secondary Metabolites

Rabot, Chris; Chen, Yuhao; Bijlani, Swati; Chiang, Yi‐Ming; Oakley, C. Elizabeth; Oakley, Berl R.; Williams, Travis J.; Wang, Clay C.

doi:10.1002/anie.202214609

Title: Conversion of Polyethylenes into Fungal Secondary Metabolites

Journal Article · Wed Nov 23 00:00:00 UTC 2022 · Angewandte Chemie (International Edition)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202214609 · OSTI ID:2424126

^[1]; Chen, Yuhao ^[1]; Bijlani, Swati ^[1]; Chiang, Yi‐Ming ^[1];

^[2];

^[2]; Williams, Travis J. ^[1];

^[1]

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)

Waste plastics represent major environmental and economic burdens due to their ubiquity, slow breakdown rates, and inadequacy of current recycling routes. Polyethylenes are particularly problematic, because they lack robust recycling approaches despite being the most abundant plastics in use today. We report a novel chemical and biological approach for the rapid conversion of polyethylenes into structurally complex and pharmacologically active compounds. We present conditions for aerobic, catalytic digestion of polyethylenes collected from post-consumer and oceanic waste streams, creating carboxylic diacids that can then be used as a carbon source by the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. As a proof of principle, we have engineered strains of A. nidulans to synthesize the fungal secondary metabolites asperbenzaldehyde, citreoviridin, and mutilin when grown on these digestion products. This hybrid approach considerably expands the range of products to which polyethylenes can be upcycled.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 2424126

Journal Information:: Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), Journal Name: Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 62; ISSN 1433-7851

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Conversion of Polyethylenes into Fungal Secondary Metabolites

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