(438f) A New Selection Method for Extracellular Enzyme Improvement Via Evolutionary Methods

Enzymes and microorganisms as biocatalysts comprise a significant segment of the modern biotechnology industry. Specifically, extracellular enzymes are a category of enzymes of great importance for renewable resource utilization and have formed a multi-billion dollar industry. Heterologously expressing extracellular enzymes for various applications, such as direct substrate utilization or whole cell biocatalyst, is another important target for industrial strain development. Here, we present a new selection method for extracellular enzyme engineering via evolutionary methods. This strategy can be used to select strains with improved growth on extracellular substrates as well. Factors that affect selection efficiency will be discussed.