PETase
| PETase | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | |||||||||
| EC no. | 3.1.1.101 | ||||||||
| Alt. names | PET hydrolase, poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolase | ||||||||
| Databases | |||||||||
| IntEnz | IntEnz view | ||||||||
| BRENDA | BRENDA entry | ||||||||
| ExPASy | NiceZyme view | ||||||||
| KEGG | KEGG entry | ||||||||
| MetaCyc | metabolic pathway | ||||||||
| PRIAM | profile | ||||||||
| PDB structures | RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum | ||||||||
| |||||||||
PETases are an esterase class of enzymes that catalyze the breakdown (via hydrolysis) of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic to monomeric mono-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (MHET). The idealized chemical reaction is:
- (ethylene terephthalate)n + H2O → (ethylene terephthalate)n-1 + MHET,
where n is the number of monomers in the polymer chain, though a trace amount of the PET breaks down instead to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). PETases can also break down PEF-plastic (polyethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate), which is a bioderived PET replacement, into the analogous MHEF. PETases can't catalyze the hydrolysis of aliphatic polyesters like polybutylene succinate or polylactic acid.
Whereas the degradation of PET by natural (non-enzymatic) means will take hundreds of years, PETases can degrade it in a matter of days.