Synthetic CO 2 -fixation enzyme cascades immobilized on self-assembled nanostructures that enhance CO 2 /O 2 selectivity of RubisCO

Background With increasing concerns over global warming and depletion of fossil-fuel reserves, it is attractive to develop innovative strategies to assimilate CO2, a greenhouse gas, into usable organic carbon. Cell-free systems can be designed to operate as catalytic platforms with enzymes that offer exceptional selectivity and efficiency, without the need to support ancillary reactions of metabolic pathways operating in intact cells. Such systems are yet to be exploited for applications involving CO2 utilization and subsequent conversion to valuable products, including biofuels. The Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle and the enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) play a pivotal role in global CO2 fixation.