The response of Pseudomonas putida to complex aromatic‐rich fractions from biomass

There is strong interest in valorization of lignin to produce valuable products; however, its structural complexity has been a conversion bottleneck. Chemical pretreatment liberates lignin-derived soluble fractions that may be upgraded by bioconversion. Cholinium ionic liquid pretreatment of sorghum produced soluble aromatic-rich fractions which were converted by Pseudomonas putida, a promising host for aromatic bioconversion. Growth studies and mutational analysis demonstrated that P. putida growth on these fractions was dependent on aromatic monomers, but unknown factors also contributed. Proteomic and metabolomic analyses indicated that these unknown factors were amino acids and residual ionic liquid; the oligomeric aromatic fraction derived from lignin was not converted. A cholinium catabolic pathway was identified and deletion of the pathway abrogated the ability of P. putida to grow on cholinium ionic liquid. This work demonstrates that aromatic-rich fractions obtained through pretreatment contain multiple substrates; conversion strategies should account for this complexity.