Applicability of Carbonic Anhydrases in Mitigating Global Warming and Development of Useful Products from CO2

Abstract

Carbonic anhydrase is a biocatalyst which is universally present in all prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic cells that catalyses the reversible conversion of CO2 to bicarbonate with a turnover rate (kcat) ranging between 104 and 106 s−1. Because of the extremely efficient CO2 conversion catalysed by CAs, their use is gaining considerable attention for applications wherever conversion of CO2 or use of bicarbonate is involved. Since CAs are ubiquitous, extensive efforts are being made to survey CAs from various sources including microorganisms. This review focuses on various classes of CAs, their occurrence and possible uses in various environmental applications, in particular sequestration of CO2 from industrial emissions for mitigating global warming. Mineralization of CO2 is one field where the captured CO2 is utilised to generate stable mineral carbonates. Bicarbonates produced after hydration of CO2 can be utilised further in the production of biofuels and other value added products. CAs can also be used in the development of biosensors and in various medical applications such as in artificial lungs and in blood substitutes.