(582cc) Tuning Beauveria Bassiana Xenobiotic Metabolism

Beauveria bassiana is a filamentous fungus widely used in organic chemistry to perform regio- and steroselective reactions due to its simplicity to handle and catalytic robustness. Researchers in the area of green chemistry including our group and others have applied B. bassiana and similar fungal systems in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other specialty chemicals through selective oxidations.  The major industrial application of B. bassiana has been as an environmentally friendly insecticide. As a result, most work in understanding the complex regulation of cellular functions has been center towards virulence enhancement for pests control. This work gives insight into the catalytic machinery involved in oxidation reactions which have not been fully explored. Our approach is to combine the improvements in pest management practices and biopesticide efficacy to improve catalysis.

B. bassiana can enhance the yield and selectivity of oxidative biotransformation through the expression of key oxidoreductases under different growth conditions, starvation, or environmental stress. In presence of n-alkanes, nC₁₂ to nC₃₀, it is possible to enhance the oxidative potential of B. bassiana by the induction of CYP450. CYP450s are oxidative enzymes involve in the first phase of xenobiotic metabolism. They are expressed in low levels and in several isoforms. B.bassiana’s genome encodes for 83 cytochrome P450s, whose expression and/or induction varies by different alkane lengths and xenobiotic. In addition, the use of botanicals and insecticides, which act as xenobiotics, has shown a synergistic effect in controlling major pest.  We explore these approaches by evaluating the changes in yield and productivity of the sulfoxidation of 2-[(diphenylmethyl)thio]acetic acid. We also evaluate the amount of oxidases present in the membrane-bound protein fraction. The success of these efforts will provide new insight on B. bassiana’s oxidative performance.