Presence Of Organic Cosolvents Research Articles

Evolution of Organic Solvent-Resistant DNA Polymerases.

The introduction of thermostable polymerases revolutionized the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and biotechnology. However, many GC-rich genes cannot be PCR-amplified with high efficiency in water, irrespective of temperature. Although polar organic cosolvents can enhance nucleic acid polymerization and amplification by destabilizing duplex DNA and secondary structures, nature has not selected for the evolution of solvent-tolerant polymerase enzymes. Here, we used ultrahigh-throughput droplet-based selection and deep sequencing along with computational free-energy and binding affinity calculations to evolve Taq polymerase to generate enzymes that are both stable and highly active in the presence of organic cosolvents, resulting in up to 10% solvent resistance and over 100-fold increase in stability at 97.5 °C in the presence of 1,4-butanediol, as well as tolerance to up to 10 times higher concentrations of the potent cosolvents sulfolane and 2-pyrrolidone. Using these polymerases, we successfully amplified a broad spectrum of GC-rich templates containing regions with over 90% GC content, including templates recalcitrant to amplification with existing polymerases, even in the presence of cosolvents. We also demonstrated dramatically reduced GC bias in the amplification of genes with widely varying GC content in quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). By expanding the scope of solvent systems compatible with nucleic acid polymerization, these organic solvent-resistant polymerases enable a dramatic reduction of sequence bias not achievable through thermal resistance alone, with significant implications for a wide range of applications including sequencing and synthetic biology in mixed aqueous-organic media.

Crystal Contact Engineering for Enhanced Cross-Linking Efficiency of HheG Crystals

The generation of cross-linked enzyme crystals is a very attractive method for immobilization of enzymes displaying high crystalizability. However, the commonly used cross-linker glutaraldehyde is not always compatible with enzyme activity. Therefore, we previously reported the engineering of halohydrin dehalogenase HheG from Ilumatobacter coccineus to enable thiol-specific cross-linking during CLEC generation by insertion of cysteine residues in the crystal contact. To broaden the applicability of this approach, herein crystal contact engineering of HheG has been performed to incorporate additional lysine residues as defined cross-linking sites for CLEC generation. Using the primary amine-specific cross-linker dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DSP), CLECs of HheG variant V46K were obtained that displayed a high gain in thermal stability compared to wild-type HheG, while using only a low cross-linker concentration. Moreover, respective V46K CLECs exhibited a 10 K higher reaction temperature optimum as well as significantly improved activity and stability at acidic pH and in the presence of organic co-solvents. Overall, our study demonstrates that lysine-specific cross-linkers can also be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde for stable CLEC generation of halohydrin dehalogenases, and that cross-linking efficiency is significantly improved upon crystal contact engineering.

Design and application of a bi-functional redox biocatalyst through covalent co-immobilization of ene-reductase and glucose dehydrogenase

An immobilized bi-functional redox biocatalyst was designed for the asymmetric reduction of alkenes by nicotinamide-dependent ene-reductases. The biocatalyst, which consists of co-immobilized ene-reductase and glucose dehydrogenase, was implemented in biotransformations in the presence of glucose as source of reducing equivalents and catalytic amounts of the cofactor. Enzyme co-immobilization employing glutaraldehyde activated Relizyme HA403/M as support material was performed directly from the crude cell-free extract obtained after protein overexpression in E. coli and cell lysis, avoiding enzyme purification steps. The resulting optimum catalyst showed excellent level of activity and stereoselectivity in asymmetric reduction reactions using either OYE3 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae or NCR from Zymomonas mobilis in the presence of organic cosolvents in up to 20 vol%. The bi-functional redox biocatalyst, which demonstrated remarkable reusability over several cycles, was applied in preparative-scale synthesis at 50 mM substrate concentration and provided access to three industrially relevant chiral compounds in high enantiopurity (ee up to 97 %) and in up to 42 % isolated yield. The present method highlights the potential of (co-)immobilization of ene-reductases, notorious for their poor scalability, and complements the few existing methods available for increasing productivity in asymmetric bioreduction reactions.

Enantioselective Epoxidation by Flavoprotein Monooxygenases Supported by Organic Solvents

Styrene and indole monooxygenases (SMO and IMO) are two-component flavoprotein monooxygenases composed of a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-dependent flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-reductase (StyB or IndB) and a monooxygenase (StyA or IndA). The latter uses reduced FAD to activate oxygen and to oxygenate the substrate while releasing water. We circumvented the need for the reductase by direct FAD reduction in solution using the NAD(P)H-mimic 1-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (BNAH) to fuel monooxygenases without NADH requirement. Herein, we report on the hitherto unknown solvent tolerance for the indole monooxygenase from Gemmobacter nectariphilus DSM15620 (GnIndA) and the styrene monooxygenase from Gordonia rubripertincta CWB2 (GrStyA). These enzymes were shown to convert bulky and rather hydrophobic styrene derivatives in the presence of organic cosolvents. Subsequently, BNAH-driven biotransformation was furthermore optimized with regard to the applied cosolvent and its concentration as well as FAD and BNAH concentration. We herein demonstrate that GnIndA and GrStyA enable selective epoxidations of allylic double bonds (up to 217 mU mg−1) in the presence of organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, or several alcohols. Notably, GnIndA was found to resist methanol concentrations up to 25 vol.%. Furthermore, a diverse substrate preference was determined for both enzymes, making their distinct use very interesting. In general, our results seem representative for many IMOs as was corroborated by in silico mutagenetic studies.

Production and Surfactant Properties of Tert-Butyl α-d-Glucopyranosides Catalyzed by Cyclodextrin Glucanotransferase

While testing the ability of cyclodextrin glucanotransferases (CGTases) to glucosylate a series of flavonoids in the presence of organic cosolvents, we found out that this enzyme was able to glycosylate a tertiary alcohol (tert-butyl alcohol). In particular, CGTases from Thermoanaerobacter sp. and Thermoanaerobacterium thermosulfurigenes EM1 gave rise to the appearance of at least two glycosylation products, which were characterized by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as tert-butyl-α-D-glucoside (major product) and tert-butyl-α-D-maltoside (minor product). Using partially hydrolyzed starch as glucose donor, the yield of transglucosylation was approximately 44% (13 g/L of tert-butyl-α-D-glucoside and 4 g/L of tert-butyl-α-D-maltoside). The synthesized tert-butyl-α-D-glucoside exhibited the typical surfactant behavior (critical micellar concentration, 4.0–4.5 mM) and its properties compared well with those of the related octyl-α-D-glucoside. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of an enzymatic α-glucosylation of a tertiary alcohol.

A Study of the Viscosity Characteristics of Chitosan Solutions in the Presence of Organic Cosolvents

The effect of organic cosolvents (ethanol and isopropanol) on the viscosity characteristics of acetic acid aqueous solutions of chitosan is studied. Sorption and deformation–strength properties, as well as resistance to the process of enzymatic degradation of materials obtained from solutions, are determined. It is shown that the introduction of cosolvents into the chitosan–1% acetic acid system is accompanied by a consistent decrease in the intrinsic viscosity of polymers. It is found that, in the presence of cosolvents, at concentrations below the crossover concentration, chitosan molecules exist as systems of interacting (aggregated) macromolecules rather than isolated macromolecular coils. A change in the conformation of chitosan and the type of macromolecular aggregates in acetic acid solutions in the presence of cosolvents leads to a number of consequences: polymer units become less accessible to an enzyme preparation, the rate of enzymatic degradation decreases, and mechanical characteristics of film materials change.

Shuffling the Neutral Drift of Unspecific Peroxygenase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Unspecific peroxygenase (UPO) is a highly promiscuous biocatalyst, and its selective mono(per)oxygenase activity makes it useful for many synthetic chemistry applications. Among the broad repertory of library creation methods for directed enzyme evolution, genetic drift allows neutral mutations to be accumulated gradually within a polymorphic network of variants. In this study, we conducted a campaign of genetic drift with UPO in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, so that neutral mutations were simply added and recombined in vivo With low mutational loading and an activity threshold of 45% of the parent's native function, mutant libraries enriched in folded active UPO variants were generated. After only eight rounds of genetic drift and DNA shuffling, we identified an ensemble of 25 neutrally evolved variants with changes in peroxidative and peroxygenative activities, kinetic thermostability, and enhanced tolerance to organic solvents. With an average of 4.6 substitutions introduced per clone, neutral mutations covered approximately 10% of the protein sequence. Accordingly, this study opens new avenues for UPO design by bringing together neutral genetic drift and DNA recombination in vivoIMPORTANCE Fungal peroxygenases resemble the peroxide shunt pathway of cytochrome P450 monoxygenases, performing selective oxyfunctionalizations of unactivated C-H bonds in a broad range of organic compounds. In this study, we combined neutral genetic drift and in vivo DNA shuffling to generate highly functional peroxygenase mutant libraries. The panel of neutrally evolved peroxygenases showed different activity profiles for peroxygenative substrates and improved stability with respect to temperature and the presence of organic cosolvents, making the enzymes valuable blueprints for emerging evolution campaigns. This association of DNA recombination and neutral drift is paving the way for future work in peroxygenase engineering and, from a more general perspective, to any other enzyme system heterologously expressed in S. cerevisiae.

One-pot biosynthesis of idoxuridine using nanostabilized lactic acid bacteria

Abstract An efficient bioprocess using immobilized lactic acid bacteria to obtain 5-iodouracil-2′-deoxyriboside, known as idoxuridine, is reported. This nucleoside analogue is an antiviral agent used in the treatment of viral infections in the absence of efficient vaccines. Idoxuridine conversion was close to 90% in different nonconventional media. A bionanocomposite (alginate-nanoclay) was employed as matrix to stabilize Lactobacillus animalis ATCC 35046 with improved stability in the presence of organic cosolvents. In this study, an eco-compatible and alternative bioprocess to obtain idoxuridine was developed for the first time. The scale-up biosynthesis of idoxuridine afforded a product yield close to 0.4 gr/L in the presence of 20% of DMSO.

A robust cosolvent-compatible halohydrin dehalogenase by computational library design.

To improve the applicability of halohydrin dehalogenase as a catalyst for reactions in the presence of organic cosolvents, we explored a computational library design strategy (Framework for Rapid Enzyme Stabilization by Computational libraries) that involves discovery and in silico evaluation of stabilizing mutations. Energy calculations, disulfide bond predictions and molecular dynamics simulations identified 218 point mutations and 35 disulfide bonds with predicted stabilizing effects. Experiments confirmed 29 stabilizing point mutations, most of which were located in two distinct regions, whereas introduction of disulfide bonds was not effective. Combining the best mutations resulted in a 12-fold mutant (HheC-H12) with a 28°C higher apparent melting temperature and a remarkable increase in resistance to cosolvents. This variant also showed a higher optimum temperature for catalysis while activity at low temperature was preserved. Mutant H12 was used as a template for the introduction of mutations that enhance enantioselectivity or activity. Crystal structures showed that the structural changes in the H12 mutant mostly agreed with the computational predictions and that the enhanced stability was mainly due to mutations that redistributed surface charges and improved interactions between subunits, the latter including better interactions of water molecules at the subunit interfaces.

Enhanced Enzymatic Synthesis of a Cephalosporin, Cefadroclor, in the Presence of Organic Co-solvents.

In this study, we investigated the enzymatic synthesis of a semi-synthetic cephalosporin, cefadroclor, from 7-aminodesacetoxymethyl-3-chlorocephalosporanic acid (7-ACCA) and p-OH-phenylglycine methyl ester (D-HPGM) using immobilized penicillin G acylase (IPA) in organic co-solvents. Ethylene glycol (EG) was employed as a component of the reaction mixture to improve the yield of cefadroclor. EG was found to increase the yield of cefadroclor by 15-45%. An investigation of altered reaction parameters including type and concentration of organic solvents, pH of reaction media, reaction temperature, molar ratio of substrates, enzyme loading, and IPA recycling was carried out in the buffer mixture. The best result was a 76.5% conversion of 7-ACCA, which was obtained from the reaction containing 20% EG (v/v), D-HPGM to 7-ACCA molar ratio of 4:1 and pH 6.2, catalyzed by 16IUmL-1 IPA at 20°C for 10h. Under the optimum conditions, no significant loss of IPA activity was found after seven repeated reaction cycles. In addition, cefadroclor exhibited strong inhibitory activity against yeast, Bacillus subtilis NX-2, and Escherichia coli and weaker activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cefadroclor is a potential antibiotic with activity against common pathogenic microorganisms.

Peptiligase, an Enzyme for Efficient Chemoenzymatic Peptide Synthesis and Cyclization in Water

AbstractWe describe a novel, organic cosolvent‐stable and cation‐independent engineered enzyme for peptide coupling reactions. The enzyme is a variant of a stable calcium‐independent mutant of subtilisin BPN′, with the catalytic Ser212 mutated to Cys and Pro216 converted to Ala. The enzyme, called peptiligase, catalyzes exceptionally efficient peptide coupling in water with a surprisingly high synthesis over hydrolysis (S/H) ratio. The S/H ratio of the peptide ligation reaction is correlated to the length of the peptide substrate and proved to be >100 for the synthesis of a 13‐mer peptide, which corresponds to >99% conversion to the ligated peptide product and <1% hydrolytic side‐reaction. Furthermore, peptiligase does not require a particular recognition motif resulting in a broadly applicable and traceless peptide ligation technology. Peptiligase is very robust, easy to produce in Bacillus subtilis, and its purification is straightforward. It shows good activity and stability in the presence of organic cosolvents and chelating or denaturing agents, enabling the ligation of poorly soluble (hydrophobic) or folded peptides. This enzyme could be useful for the (industrial) synthesis of diverse (pharmaceutical) peptides. In addition, peptiligase is able to efficiently catalyze head‐to‐tail peptide cyclization reactions.magnified image

Continuous hydrothermal liquefaction of macroalgae in the presence of organic co-solvents

This paper examines the use of organic co-solvent (n-heptane, toluene and anisole, up to 10wt.%) in the hydrothermal liquefaction of macroalgal biomass as a means of achieving in situ fractionation of the biocrude product according to polarity. The filamentous freshwater macroalga Oedogonium was grown under nutrient-depleted conditions to achieve a low nitrogen content, 1.1wt.% N. Its hydrothermal liquefaction in a continuous pilot plant reactor (300–350°C, 3–5min and 2–5wt.% loadings) yielded up to 25wt.% (dry ash-free basis, daf) extractable biocrude. More severe conditions led to biocrudes in higher yields, with reduced oxygen and slightly increased nitrogen contents, and with lower viscosity. The presence of co-solvents had little effect on the total biocrude yield but gave rise to in situ separation of the biocrude into distinct fractions associated with the organic phase (designated solvent oil) and the aqueous phase (designated DCM oil). The amount of solvent oil produced exceeded the amount that could be extracted at room temperature, by that solvent, from the product mixture obtained in the absence of co-solvent. The relative proportions and properties of the solvent and DCM fractions varied with the polarity of the co-solvent. Anisole co-solvent dissolved nearly all the biocrude and the resulting viscous oil was similar to that obtained without co-solvent. On the other hand, solvent oil produced with n-heptane (~7.4wt.% daf yield, or ~37% of the total biocrude) had significantly reduced levels of nitrogen (1.1wt.%) and oxygen (12.5wt.%) and possessed relatively low viscosity. Toluene co-solvent HTL produced a solvent oil with intermediate yield and properties. Co-solvent HTL offers a simple and effective means of fractionating HTL biocrude on the basis of polarity. A non-polar co-solvent such as n-heptane produces an enhanced product fraction more suitable for hydrotreating than the mixed product obtained without co-solvent.

Evaluation of styrene-divinylbenzene beads as a support to immobilize lipases.

A commercial and very hydrophobic styrene-divinylbenzene matrix, MCI GEL® CHP20P, has been compared to octyl-Sepharose® beads as support to immobilize three different enzymes: lipases from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) and from Rhizomucor miehie (RML) and Lecitase® Ultra, a commercial artificial phospholipase. The immobilization mechanism on both supports was similar: interfacial activation of the enzymes versus the hydrophobic surface of the supports. Immobilization rate and loading capacity is much higher using MCI GEL® CHP20P compared to octyl-Sepharose® (87.2 mg protein/g of support using TLL, 310 mg/g using RML and 180 mg/g using Lecitase® Ultra). The thermal stability of all new preparations is much lower than that of the standard octyl-Sepharose® immobilized preparations, while the opposite occurs when the inactivations were performed in the presence of organic co-solvents. Regarding the hydrolytic activities, the results were strongly dependent on the substrate and pH of measurement. Octyl-Sepharose® immobilized enzymes were more active versus p-NPB than the enzymes immobilized on MCI GEL® CHP20P, while RML became 700-fold less active versus methyl phenylacetate. Thus, the immobilization of a lipase on this matrix needs to be empirically evaluated, since it may present very positive effects in some cases while in other cases it may have very negative ones.

Lipase catalyzed Cannizzaro-type reaction with substituted benzaldehydes in water

Lipases were found to catalyze Cannizzaro-type reaction of substituted benzaldehydes in aqueous medium at 30°C without the addition of any external redox reagent. The ratio of alcohol product to acid product varied with nature of the substituted benzaldehyde, enzyme, and the presence of organic co-solvent.

Directed Evolution of Unspecific Peroxygenase from Agrocybe aegerita

Unspecific peroxygenase (UPO) represents a new type of heme-thiolate enzyme with self-sufficient mono(per)oxygenase activity and many potential applications in organic synthesis. With a view to taking advantage of these properties, we subjected the Agrocybe aegerita UPO1-encoding gene to directed evolution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To promote functional expression, several different signal peptides were fused to the mature protein, and the resulting products were tested. Over 9,000 clones were screened using an ad hoc dual-colorimetric assay that assessed both peroxidative and oxygen transfer activities. After 5 generations of directed evolution combined with hybrid approaches, 9 mutations were introduced that resulted in a 3,250-fold total activity improvement with no alteration in protein stability. A breakdown between secretion and catalytic activity was performed by replacing the native signal peptide of the original parental type with that of the evolved mutant; the evolved leader increased functional expression 27-fold, whereas an 18-fold improvement in the kcat/Km value for oxygen transfer activity was obtained. The evolved UPO1 was active and highly stable in the presence of organic cosolvents. Mutations in the hydrophobic core of the signal peptide contributed to enhance functional expression up to 8 mg/liter, while catalytic efficiencies for peroxidative and oxygen transfer reactions were increased by several mutations in the vicinity of the heme access channel. Overall, the directed-evolution platform described is a valuable point of departure for the development of customized UPOs with improved features and for the study of structure-function relationships.

Organic Solvent Tolerance of Retro-Friedel–Crafts Hydrolases

Retro-Friedel–Crafts hydrolases are co-factor independent enzymes with unusual reactivity and selectivity. These unique hydrolases are scarcely studied for biocatalytical applications in organic chemistry yet, although many other hydrolytic enzymes (e.g. lipases) are commonly applied as catalysts. Two Friedel–Crafts hydrolases were selected, namely 2,6-diacetylphloroglucinol hydrolase (PhlG) from Pseudomonas fluorescens and phloretin hydrolase from Eubacterium ramulus (Phy), to test the suitability of these enzymes in synthetic applications. The activity and stability of PhlG and Phy as lyophilized cells or lyophilized crude extracts were investigated in the presence of organic co-solvents. It was shown, that by careful selection of the co-solvent the enzymes catalyse C–C hydrolysis in a buffer solvent mixture with improved conversions at 50 mM substrate concentration. However, attempts to catalyze C–C-bond formation in organic solvents were unsuccessful.

Aggregation properties and thermodynamics of micellization of gemini surfactants with diethyl ether spacer in water and water–organic solvent mixed media

The aggregation properties and thermodynamics of micellization of three cationic gemini surfactants (n–EO1–n) containing diethyl ether spacer group with varying carbon number (n=12, 14 and 16) in the hydrophobic tails have been studied in water and water–organic solvents mixed media over the range of temperature (298.15 to 328.15)K using the conductometric method. Ethylene glycol (EG) and 1,4-dioxane (DO) were used as organic co-solvents with three different volume percentages due to their unique nature than other solvents. With increasing tail length, the critical micellar concentration (cmc) of gemini surfactants decreased. The effect of the diethyl ether spacer group on aggregation behaviour has been compared with other reported spacer groups. The micellization process is delayed in the presence of organic co-solvents as compared to pure water giving a positive value for the Gibbs energy of transfer (ΔGtranso). The degree of counter ion dissociation (α) increases with increasing tail length of gemini surfactants. It also increases with increase in the percentage of organic co-solvents and it is more prominent in DO–WR than EG–WR mixed media. The standard Gibbs energy of micellization (ΔGmo) is found to increase with increasing volume percentage of an organic co-solvent and also with decrease in the chain length of gemini surfactants. The ΔGmo has been correlated with Gordon parameter. The ΔGmo increases with increasing temperature which is more prominent in the presence of high percentage of an organic co-solvent and also in the presence of an organic co-solvent with less polarity. The enthalpies of micellization in all cases are exothermic in nature. The compensation between the enthalpy and entropy for the formation of micellar aggregates has been observed.

Oxidation of phenyl compounds using strongly stable immobilized-stabilized laccase from Trametes versicolor

The hydrolysis of phenolic compounds using an immobilized and highly active and stable derivative of laccase from Trametes versicolor is presented. The enzyme was immobilized on aldehyde supports. For this, the enzyme was enriched in amino groups by chemical modification of its carboxyl groups. The aminated enzyme was immobilized with a high recovered activity (over 60%). Aldehyde derivatives were more stable than soluble or aminated-soluble enzyme and the reference derivatives after incubation in different inactivating conditions (high temperatures, different pH values or presence of organic cosolvents). The most stable derivative was obtained immobilizing the chemically aminated enzyme at pH 10 on aldehyde supports with a stabilization factor approximately 280 fold after incubation at pH 7 and 55°C. In addition, it was possible to prepare immobilized derivatives with a maximal enzyme loading of 60mgg−1 of support. This derivative could be reused for 10 reaction cycles with negligible lost of activity.

Enhanced deoxyribozyme‐catalyzed RNA ligation in the presence of organic cosolvents

Deoxyribozyme and aptamer selections are typically conducted in aqueous buffer solutions. Using nonaqueous cosolvents in selection experiments will help expand the activity of deoxyribozymes with non-oligonucleotide substrates and will allow identification of new aptamers for nonprotein targets. We undertook in vitro selections utilizing a small amount of methanol in the reaction to keep the herbicides alachlor and atrazine in solution with the goal of identifying deoxyribozymes that require these herbicides for activity. The resulting deoxyribozymes successfully catalyze RNA ligation, but do not require alachlor or atrazine. Surprisingly, some of these deoxyribozymes displayed better catalytic activity in the presence of methanol over just aqueous buffer. We investigated several organic cosolvents to see if this enhancement was limited to methanol and found that other cosolvents, including ethanol, DMSO, and DMF, supported activity; in some cases, greater enhancement was observed. On the basis of these results, we tested two other previously identified RNA-ligating deoxyribozymes to assess their tolerance of cosolvents and determined that different deoxyribozymes showed different responses to the cosolvents. Our results demonstrate that deoxyribozymes can tolerate and, in some cases, display enhanced activity in alternative solvent conditions. These findings will facilitate the development of responsive deoxyribozyme systems utilizing components with limited water solubility.

Versatile peroxidase as a valuable tool for generating new biomolecules by homogeneous and heterogeneous cross-linking

The modification and generation of new biomolecules intended to give higher molecular-mass species for biotechnological purposes, can be achieved by enzymatic cross-linking. The versatile peroxidase (VP) from Pleurotus eryngii is a high redox-potential enzyme with oxidative activity on a wide variety of substrates. In this study, VP was successfully used to catalyze the polymerization of low molecular mass compounds, such as lignans and peptides, as well as larger macromolecules, such as protein and complex polysaccharides. Different analytical, spectroscopic, and rheological techniques were used to determine structural changes and/or variations of the physicochemical properties of the reaction products. The lignans secoisolariciresinol and hydroxymatairesinol were condensed by VP forming up to 8 unit polymers in the presence of organic co-solvents and Mn2+. Moreover, 11 unit of the peptides YIGSR and VYV were homogeneously cross-linked. The heterogeneous cross-linking of one unit of the peptide YIGSR and several lignan units was also achieved. VP could also induce gelation of feruloylated arabinoxylan and the polymerization of β-casein. These results demonstrate the efficacy of VP to catalyze homo- and hetero-condensation reactions, and reveal its potential exploitation for polymerizing different types of compounds.