Cellulase catalysis on cell surfaces using Caulobacter S-layer display

Sustainable bioprocesses for energy and materials production and waste resource recovery are needed to support circular economic development. Enzyme surface display on cells or functionalized materials has emerged as a promising paradigm for sustainable bioprocess innovation. Surface (S)-layers are geometric, often monomolecular, highly stable crystalline protein lattices encasing the outside of many bacteria and archaea. Several S-layer genes have been shown to tolerate heterologous insertions, thereby enabling high-density display of peptides of interest on cell surfaces without additional costly immobilization or conjugation steps. Here, we employ an S-layer display platform in Caulobacter vibrioides CB2A JS4038 to express functional cellulases up to 445 amino acids in length. We explore critical design considerations needed for successful catalytic display and demonstrate synergistic activities between differentially expressed cellulases relevant to combinatorial lignocellulosic biomass conversion. Functionalized S-layers could have useful applications in engineering whole-cell biocatalysts and synthetic microbial consortia tuned for different bioprocess applications.