ortho‐Phthalate derives from industrially produced phthalate esters, which are massively used as plasticizers and constitute major emerging environmental pollutants. The pht pathway for the anaerobic bacterial biodegradation of o‐phthalate involves its activation to phthaloyl‐CoA followed by decarboxylation to benzoyl‐CoA. Here, we have explored further the pht peripheral pathway in denitrifying bacteria and shown that it requires also an active transport system for o‐phthalate uptake that belongs to the poorly characterized class of TAXI‐TRAP transporters. The construction of a fully functional pht cassette combining both catabolic and transport genes allowed to expand the o‐phthalate degradation ecological trait to heterologous hosts. Unexpectedly, the pht cassette also allowed the aerobic conversion of o‐phthalate to benzoyl‐CoA when coupled to a functional box central pathway. Hence, the pht pathway may constitute an evolutionary acquisition for o‐phthalate degradation by bacteria that thrive either in anoxic environments or in environments that face oxygen limitations and that rely on benzoyl‐CoA, rather than on catecholic central intermediates, for the aerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds. Finally, the recombinant pht cassette was used both to screen for functional aerobic box pathways in bacteria and to engineer recombinant biocatalysts for o‐phthalate bioconversion into sustainable bioplastics, e.g., polyhydroxybutyrate, in plastic recycling industrial processes.

中文翻译：

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扩展了不依赖氧的邻苯二甲酸酯降解途径的当前知识和生物技术应用。

原邻苯二甲酸酯来源于工业生产的邻苯二甲酸酯，它们被大量用作增塑剂，并构成主要的新兴环境污染物。用于厌氧细菌的生物降解途径PHT ø -邻苯二甲酸酯涉及其活化的邻苯二甲酰基-CoA随后脱羧苯甲酰基-CoA。在这里，我们进一步研究了反硝化细菌中的pht外围途径，并表明它还需要一种主动运输系统来摄取邻苯二甲酸盐，而该系统属于TAXI-TRAP转运蛋白的特征较差的一类。结合分解代谢和转运基因的全功能pht盒的构建可以扩展o邻苯二甲酸酯的降解生态特征。出乎意料的是，当与功能盒中心通路偶联时，pht盒还允许邻苯二甲酸盐有氧转化为苯甲酰辅酶A。因此，pht途径可能构成细菌在邻苯二甲酸盐降解过程中的进化习性，这些细菌在缺氧环境中或在面临氧气限制的环境中生长，这些环境依赖于苯甲酰辅酶A而不是邻苯二酚中心中间体，从而使邻苯二甲酸盐的需氧分解代谢芳香族化合物。最后，将重组PHT盒在细菌既被用来屏幕功能有氧箱途径和工程改造重组生物催化剂ö在塑料回收工业过程中，将邻苯二甲酸酯生物转化为可持续的生物塑料，例如聚羟基丁酸酯。