Researchers from ETH Zurich and the Technical University of Munich, led by Ankit Jain, have developed a new high-throughput absorbance-activated droplet sorting (iAADS) platform to accelerate enzyme engineering. This innovative system enables the screening and evolution of non-fluorescent enzymes by combining absorbance and impedance detectors, allowing for kilohertz sorting rates.
The team applied the iAADS platform to screen a 100,000-member library of aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) for activity towards D-glyceraldehyde. From this screen, six unique ALDH variants were identified, with one variant showing a 51% increase in catalytic efficiency compared to the wild-type enzyme. Additionally, the enhanced variant demonstrated broad substrate acceptance, including industrially relevant aldehydes such as hexanal and benzaldehyde.
The iAADS platform represents a significant advancement in enzyme evolution technology, offering a robust and rapid alternative to conventional screening methods. Importantly, the study highlights its utility in industrial applications, such as sustainable chemical production, by identifying efficient biocatalysts in a fraction of the time that is required when using traditional methods.
Written by Sourabh Das
Read the published article here.
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