Discovery, Characterization, Engineering, and Applications of Ene-Reductases for Industrial Biocatalysis

Recent studies of multiple enzyme families collectively referred to as ene-reductases (ERs) have highlighted potential industrial application of these biocatalysts in the production of fine and speciality chemicals. Processes have been developed whereby ERs contribute to synthetic routes as isolated enzymes, components of multi-enzyme cascades, and more recently in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology programmes using microbial cell factories to support chemicals production. The discovery of ERs from previously untapped sources and the expansion of directed evolution screening programmes, coupled to deeper mechanistic understanding of ER reactions, have driven their use in natural product and chemicals synthesis. Here we review developments, challenges and opportunities for the use of ERs in fine and speciality chemicals manufacture. The ER research field is rapidly expanding and the focus of this review is on developments that have emerged predominantly over the last 4 years.