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Protein Engineering of Enzymes Involved in Bioplastic Metabolism
Summary
This review discusses protein engineering of enzymes that metabolize bioplastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates) as part of developing sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics. Improving enzymatic breakdown of bioplastics is critical for reducing the long-term environmental accumulation of plastic particles including microplastics.
The last half century has witnessed the development of synthetic plastics from petroleum resources, and more than 300 million tons of synthetic plastics are annually produced at present. The recently increased consumption of petroleum resources has led to environmental prob‐ lems such as a depletion of the resources as well as a global warming due to a marked increase of atmospheric CO2 level. In addition to these problems, wasted plastics used in short-term applications may cause the environmental damage to a wide variety of wild animals includ‐ ing terrestrial, aquatic animals and birds. Furthermore, it has been suggested that even the wasted plastics in the form of small particles potentially induce the alteration of pelagic ecosystems [1]. Therefore, the development of environmentally sound alternatives, such as bioplastics, to conventional petroleum-based plastics is urgently desired to sustain the environment [2-4].