Bacteria turn weed-killer waste into tea's calming amino acid
Yu S, Feng J, Zhou G, Xiao C, Wang Y
Phytoremediation
The soil microbes breaking down herbicide runoff near farms could someday do double duty, cleaning up atrazine contamination while producing the same compound that gives tea its mellow flavor and calming effect.
Tea plants normally need a slow process inside their roots to make L-theanine, the amino acid responsible for tea's smooth, relaxing taste. Researchers discovered that two enzymes from soil bacteria, normally used to break down the herbicide atrazine, can be repurposed to build one of the key ingredients for L-theanine instead. They engineered a bacterium with these enzymes and got it to produce meaningfully more L-theanine than before, hinting at a future where pollution-eating microbes also help grow better tea.
Key Findings
Software predicted that atrazine-degrading enzymes AtzA and AtzB could generate ethylamine, the rate-limiting ingredient for L-theanine synthesis.
A cell-free protein system using Pseudomonas knackmussii produced 88.5 μM of L-theanine within 24 hours.
An engineered P. knackmussii-AtzAB strain boosted output to 445.7 μM over 84 hours of fermentation, a 44.6% conversion rate.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a way to make the prized tea amino acid L-theanine using bacteria that also break down atrazine, a common weed killer, turning a pollution problem into a production method.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Sustainable co-production of L-theanine via an integrated biocatalytic system exploiting atrazine degradation.
L-Theanine is a health-beneficial tea-specific amino acid. This amino acid is synthesized through the catalytic action of L-theanine synthase or its isoenzymes, utilizing ethylamine and L-glutamic ...
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Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which originated in the borderlands of south-western China, north-east India and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the le...