A self-sufficient system for removal of synthetic dye by coupling of spore-displayed triphenylmethane reductase and glucose 1-dehydrogenase

Biodegradation of triphenylmethane dyes by microorganisms is hampered by the transport barrier imposed by cell membranes. On the other hand, cell-free systems using enzyme-based biodegradation strategy are costly. Therefore, an efficient and inexpensive approach circumventing these problems is highly desirable. Here, we constructed a self-sufficient system for synthetic dye removal by coupling of spore surface-displayed triphenylmethane reductase (TMR) and glucose 1-dehydrogenase (GDH) for the first time. Display of both TMR and GDH significantly enhanced their stability under conditions of extreme pH and temperature. These engineered spores also exhibited more robust long-term stability than their purified counterparts. Furthermore, we observed that a high ratio of spore-displayed GDH is necessary for high dye degradation efficiency. These results indicate that this continuous dye removal system with cofactor regeneration offers a promising solution for dye biodegradation applications.