Tailored Covalent Organic Frameworks Enable the Encapsulation of Living Cells to Produce Rare Ginsenoside
- 1School of Life Sciences Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering of Ministry of Education Jilin University Changchun People's Republic of China
- 2College of Chemistry Tianjin Key Laboratory of Structure and Performance for Functional Molecules Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies on Intelligent Molecules Tianjin Normal University Tianjin People's Republic of China
Abstract
Whole‐cell catalysis holds great potential in the production of rare ginsenoside compound K (CK), but it is limited by poor mass transfer and inadequate stability in practice. Herein, we report a scalable whole‐cell immobilization platform through in situ assembly of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing Sulfolobus solfataricus β‐glycosidase with three covalent organic frameworks (COFs: TpPa, TpBD, and TpTAP) in phosphate‐buffered saline. As demonstrated with TpBD, 18.6 grams of TpBD COF could be synthesized in one pot at room‐temperature. The COF shell uniformly encapsulated the cell surface, yielding a robust biocatalyst with high catalytic efficiency, enhanced stability, and excellent recyclability. Specifically, E. coli@TpBD‐2 showed 1.98‐fold higher catalytic efficiency than free E. coli, while the COF shell significantly improved the E. coli’s tolerance to industrially relevant harsh conditions. Notably, the scale‐up synthesis in continuous‐flow reactors using abundant ginsenoside Rb1 as substrate afforded a space‐time yield of 0.67 g·L−1·d−1 for CK at 70°C, with 75.25% initial conversion rate retained after 10 h of continuous operation. Additionally, this platform enabled the immobilization of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, demonstrating favorable universality. This work establishes a versatile platform for engineering stable whole‐cell biocatalysts, which is beneficial for facilitating the industrialization of biocatalysis.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026tailored,
title = {{Tailored Covalent Organic Frameworks Enable the Encapsulation of Living Cells to Produce Rare Ginsenoside}},
author = {Fengmei Liu and Shan Zhang and Shanrong Wei and Ziye Xing and Hongming He and Xiao Liang and Quanshun Li},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.77136},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77136},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tailored Covalent Organic Frameworks Enable the Encapsulation of Living Cells to Produce Rare Ginsenoside
AU - Fengmei Liu
AU - Shan Zhang
AU - Shanrong Wei
AU - Ziye Xing
AU - Hongming He
AU - Xiao Liang
AU - Quanshun Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/13
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.77136
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77136
AB - Whole‐cell catalysis holds great potential in the production of rare ginsenoside compound K (CK), but it is limited by poor mass transfer and inadequate stability in practice. Herein, we report a scalable whole‐cell immobilization platform through in situ assembly of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing Sulfolobus solfataricus β‐glycosidase with three covalent organic frameworks (COFs: TpPa, TpBD, and TpTAP) in phosphate‐buffered saline. As demonstrated with TpBD, 18.6 grams of TpBD COF could be synthesized in one pot at room‐temperature. The COF shell uniformly encapsulated the cell surface, yielding a robust biocatalyst with high catalytic efficiency, enhanced stability, and excellent recyclability. Specifically, E. coli@TpBD‐2 showed 1.98‐fold higher catalytic efficiency than free E. coli, while the COF shell significantly improved the E. coli’s tolerance to industrially relevant harsh conditions. Notably, the scale‐up synthesis in continuous‐flow reactors using abundant ginsenoside Rb1 as substrate afforded a space‐time yield of 0.67 g·L−1·d−1 for CK at 70°C, with 75.25% initial conversion rate retained after 10 h of continuous operation. Additionally, this platform enabled the immobilization of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, demonstrating favorable universality. This work establishes a versatile platform for engineering stable whole‐cell biocatalysts, which is beneficial for facilitating the industrialization of biocatalysis.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -