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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a biodegradable polyester that can serve as a promising alternative to petrochemical plastics, which present a serious source of pollution. PHA synthase (PhaC) is a key enzyme responsible for producing a wide variety of PHAs in microorganisms. Here, we present crystal structures of full-length PhaC from Aeromonas caviae, a high-performance PhaC employed for industrial use. The structure reveals an N-terminal helical domain that mediates head-to-head dimerization and stabilizes the C-terminal alpha/beta catalytic domain to form a tunnel that connects the catalytic center embedded inside the protein to the protein surface. We showed that this tunnel is a putative egress tunnel for the product PHA chain. Our results establish a fundamental understanding of the PhaC machinery that should lead to improvement of this enzyme in industrial applications.

Structures of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthase PhaC from Aeromonas caviae, Producing Biodegradable Plastics.,Chek MF, Kim SY, Mori T, Matsumoto K, Sato S, Hakoshima T Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Apr 25:e202504626. doi: 10.1002/anie.202504626. PMID:40276819^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.