Suchita Nety (ZHANG LAB)

Exploring the Biochemical Diversity of the RNA-guided Nuclease TnpB

TnpB is an RNA-guided nuclease that is harbored in transposons. Previously, we showed that TnpB cleaves double- and single-stranded DNA substrates in an RNA-guided manner, but the biogenesis of the TnpB ribonucleoprotein complex is unknown. Using in vitro purified apo TnpB, we demonstrate the ability of TnpB to generate its guide RNA from its own mRNA via 5’ processing. This work reveals a new functionality, guide RNA biogenesis, of TnpB, and characterizes additional members of this biotechnologically useful family of programmable enzymes.

Albert Wang (VOIGT LAB)

Upcycling Plastic Waste to Food with Diverse Bacteria

To achieve a true plastic circular economy, we require new methods capable of upcycling waste into chemically distant products. For difficult polyolefin plastics, these methods will likely involve hybrid catalysis, where initial chemical oxidation will generate mixed chain-length monomers to be biologically funneled into new products. Here, we present a method to upcycle polyethylene into a food product by oxidizing polyethylene into dicarboxylic acids and then expressing nutrients from the novel host Acinetobacter baylyi grown on these acids.