Comparison of Carbonic Anhydrases for CO Sequestration

Strategies for depleting carbon dioxide (CO) from flue gases are urgently needed and carbonic anhydrases (CAs) can contribute to solving this problem. They catalyze the hydration of CO in aqueous solutions and therefore capture the CO. However, the harsh conditions due to varying process temperatures are limiting factors for the application of enzymes. The current study aims to examine four recombinantly produced CAs from different organisms, namely CAs from (AwCA or CynT), (PmCA), (MtaCA or Cab) and (SspCA). The highest expression yields and activities were found for AwCA (1814 WAU mg AwCA) and PmCA (1748 WAU mg PmCA). AwCA was highly stable in a mesophilic temperature range, whereas PmCA proved to be exceptionally thermostable. Our results indicate the potential to utilize CAs from anaerobic microorganisms to develop CO sequestration applications.