Ewha Womans University · 生化学・遺伝学・分子生物学
Professor Hee Taek Kim's research lab specializes in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for the sustainable production of high-value chemicals and polymers from renewable resources. The lab focuses on developing microbial cell factories—particularly engineered *Corynebacterium glutamicum* and *Escherichia coli*—to convert biomass-derived substrates into platform chemicals like cadaverine, 5-hydroxyvaleric acid, and aromatic compounds. A central theme is the chemo-biological upcycling of plastic waste, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), through enzymatic depolymerization and downstream biotransformation into valuable chemicals. The lab also pioneers integrated bioprocesses combining fermentation, purification, and polymerization for the production of bio-based polyamides, supporting a circular bioeconomy.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), composed of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), is the most commonly produced polyester. Unrecycled PET waste causes serious environmental problems. To increase the PET recycling rate, the upcycling of PET into products that are higher value than PET is desired. In this study, the feasibility of biological valorization of PET for its upcycling was experimentally evaluated. Among the two monomers obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of PET, TPA w
Fermentative production of cadaverine from renewable resources may support a sustainable biorefinery process to produce carbon-neutral nylons such as biopolyamide 510 (PA510). Cost-competitive production of cadaverine is a key factor in the successful commercialization of PA510. In this study, an integrated biological and chemical process involving cadaverine biosynthesis, purification, and its polymerization with sebacic acid was developed to produce bio-PA510. To stably express ldcC from Esche
Chemo-biological upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) developed in this study includes the following key steps: chemo-enzymatic PET depolymerization, biotransformation of terephthalic acid (TPA) into catechol, and its application as a coating agent. Monomeric units were first produced through PET glycolysis into bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET), and PET oligomers, and enzymatic hydrolysis of these glycolyzed products using Bacillus su
Lysine decarboxylases (LDCs) from Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus saerimneri, Streptomyces coelicolor, Selemonas ruminantium, Hafnia alvei, and Vibrio vulnificus were examined for their ability to enhance the fermentative production of cadaverine in Corynebacterium glutamcium. Among these LDCs, the plasmid-based expression of the H. alvei LDC gene (ldcCHa) under strong promoters (PH30, PH36) produced high concentrations of cadaverine (11.4–11.5 g/L), which is similar to 12.5 g/L of cadaverine pr
We report metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum) for high-level production of 5-hydroxyvaleric acid (5-HV), an important C5 platform chemical covering a wide range of industrial applications, using glucose as a sole carbon source. To derive 5-HV, an artificial 5-HV biosynthesis pathway, composed of the first three reaction steps of an l-lysine catabolic pathway via 5-aminovaleramide along with a subsequent intracellular reduction step, was constructed: l-lysine was c
Cadaverine is a C5 diamine monomer used for the production of bio-based polyamide 510. Cadaverine is produced by the decarboxylation of l-lysine using a lysine decarboxylase (LDC). In this study, we developed recombinant <i>Escherichia coli</i> strains for the expression of LDC from <i>Hafnia alvei</i>. The resulting recombinant XBHaLDC strain was used as a whole cell biocatalyst for the high-level bioconversion of l-lysine into cadaverine without the supplementation of isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalac
An all-inclusive bio-chemical route from the fermentation process to downstream process for C5 plasticizer synthesis was developed using fermentation-derived glutaric acid produced by metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum .
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