Description

The impetus was the problem of clothing disposal. Since a large amount of clothing is discarded every year, we decided to approach the degradation process of nylon 6 in order to recycle clothing. Nylon 6 can be biologically degraded to synthesize adipic acid, the raw material of nylon 66. We believe that by considering a recycling system for this reaction, we can move closer to achieving a sustainable society.

Inspiration

We want to create an organism that takes in alanine and synthesizes and secretes pyruvate.

Design

The process for degrading nylon 6 to adipic acid is as follows

1. The decomposition of nylon 6 oligomer to 6-aminohexaoate.
2. Synthesis of adipate semialdehyde
3. Synthesis of adipate

Focusing on the synthesis of adipate semialdehyde, we aim to establish an alanine recycling system to supply keto acids.

Aminotransfer Reactions

Pdr12 is a monocarboxylic acid transporter. This allows E. coli to take up alanine and synthesize pyruvate, which is then secreted by E. coli.