Adhesin gene overexpression stimulates biofilm formation and catalytic performance in recombinant Escherichia coli

A new strategy of overexpressing E. coli adhesion gene for biofilm catalysis was proposed. • Adhesin gene overexpression enhances cell adhesion, promotes biofilms formation, and reduces planktonic cell number. • Overexpression of ecp A in E. coli enhances biofilm biomass by 563.88% compared with CK. • The conversion of rutin reached 97.81% using ecpA-overexpressing E. coli biofilms as catalysts. • Overexpressing adhesion genes and carrier adsorption enhance biofilm catalytic performance. Biofilms catalysis has broad application prospects in the biocatalysis due to its high cellular stability, strong reusability, and operational simplicity. However, the naturally limited biofilm-forming ability of Escherichia coli restricts its performance in catalytic processes. In this study, we developed a rational engineering strategy to enhance E. coli -based biofilms catalysis by overexpressing adhesion-related genes in combination with carrier materials. Specifically, adhesin gene overexpression enhances cell adhesion and biofilm formation while decreasing planktonic cell number. Furthermore, biofilm biomass in the ecp A- and pro Q-overexpressing strains increased by 563.88% and 550.36%, respectively ( p  < 0.001). In addition, after the addition of hydrophilic polyurethane fiber carriers, rutin conversion rate of 97.81% and isoquercitrin yield of 90.11% were achieved using biofilms catalysts formed by the ecp A-overexpressing strain ( p  < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that adhesin gene overexpression combined with hydrophilic polyurethane fibers as carriers is an effective strategy for constructing robust E. coli biofilms catalysts and enhancing biofilm-mediated biocatalysis. Download: Download high-res image (80KB) Download: Download full-size image