Dissertation

Solvent tolerance mechanisms in Pseudomonas putida

Bacterial biocatalysis constitutes a sustainable alternative for high-value chemicals production by enabling the utilization of renewable feedstocks.

Author: Kusumawardhani, H.
Date: 11 March 2021
Links: Thesis in Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Bacterial biocatalysis constitutes a sustainable alternative for high-value chemicals production by enabling the utilization of renewable feedstocks. However, biobased production ofaromatic compounds and biopolymers requires a specialized microbial cell factory. Microbial hosts may experience cell toxicity caused by the solvent-like compounds that emerge as products, substrates or intermediates during the production process. Therefore, solvent tolerance is an essential trait for the microbial hosts used in biobased production of aromatic chemicals and biopolymers. The work described in this thesis focused on identifying and characterizing genes/gene clusters which are involved in conferring solvent tolerance trait in bacteria. Adaptability of P. putida S12 is dependent on the ability to cope with the high energy demand of solvent stress. The inherent metabolic flexibility of P. putida S12 has partly been developed through horizontally transferred traits, such as aromatic degradation pathways and solvent extrusion pumps.