Biocatalysis

The Applied Biocatalysis Center at based at the Technical University of Graz, Austria maintains one of the largest research efforts directed toward biocatalysis. Funded as a Competence Center (Kompetenzzentrum), or K+ Center in Austria, the research efforts have already resulted in a number of biocatalysis successes. DSM, in particular has funded significant projects, including work to clone, express and optimize hydroxynitrile lyase enzymes for chiral cyanohydrin synthesis, and the cloning and first successful expression of pig liver esterase in commercially significant amounts. The Center also maintains a good web site: A-B Graz

Ever wished you could find out how a compound could be degraded or biosynthesized? A great resource to help answer this questions is the U of  Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database, compiled and regularly updated by Prof. Larry Wackett and colleagues. IT contains 182 pathways, 1269 reactions, 177 compounds, 821 enzymes, 479 microorganism entries, and more. This is a great resource, and we will include it in our growing list of resources and link to it here.