Journal: Metabolic Engineering Communications

Article Title: Elucidating biodegradation of dimethyl terephthalate by two Rhodococcus strains for its valorization applications

doi: 10.1016/j.mec.2026.e00271

Figure Lengend Snippet: Testing Rhodococcus strains for growth in the presence of DMT and degradation of DMT. a) and b) Growth curves of PD630 and RPET in minimal media supplemented with 1 g/L glucose and varying concentrations of DMT (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/L), respectively; c) and d) DMT degradation percentages for PD630 and RPET, respectively. The inocula of both strains were pre-cultured using glucose-containing minimal media. All experiments were conducted in triplicate, and error bars indicate standard deviations.

Article Snippet: Rhodococcus opacus PD630 was obtained from DSMZ (identifier: DSMZ 44193).

Techniques: Cell Culture

Journal: Metabolic Engineering Communications

Article Title: Elucidating biodegradation of dimethyl terephthalate by two Rhodococcus strains for its valorization applications

doi: 10.1016/j.mec.2026.e00271

Figure Lengend Snippet: Resting cell assay of PD630 and RPET in the presence of DMT. a) and b) DMT concentration profiles of PD630 and RPET, respectively; c) and d) MMT concentration profiles of PD630 and RPET, respectively; e) and f) MMT concentration profiles of PD630 and RPET over an extended period, respectively. The control groups were pre-grown in minimal media with 1 g/L glucose, while the induced groups were pre-grown in minimal media with 1 g/L glucose and 20 mg/L DMT to promote the expression of genes related to DMT degradation. Then, cells were harvested at the mid-exponential phase and resuspended in 1X phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.0) containing 20 mg/L DMT at an equal initial OD 600 value. For a), b), c), and d), the OD 600 profiles after resuspension are shown in . For e) and f), the DMT concentration profiles and OD 600 profiles are shown in . All experiments were performed in triplicate, and error bars represent standard deviations.

Article Snippet: Rhodococcus opacus PD630 was obtained from DSMZ (identifier: DSMZ 44193).

Techniques: Concentration Assay, Control, Expressing, Saline

Journal: Metabolic Engineering Communications

Article Title: Elucidating biodegradation of dimethyl terephthalate by two Rhodococcus strains for its valorization applications

doi: 10.1016/j.mec.2026.e00271

Figure Lengend Snippet: Transcriptomic analyses of PD630 and RPET. a) Results of PD630; b) Results of RPET. The volcano plots illustrate differential gene expression in response to DMT, determined by transcriptomic analysis. Red and blue dots represent genes with statistically significant up- and down-regulation, respectively (|log 2 (fold change)| > 1 and adjusted p -value <0.05); black dots indicate genes with statistically insignificant changes. The horizontal dashed line represents adjusted p -value = 0.05. Transcriptomic data were generated by Genewiz® using RNA-seq service. The control groups were cultured in minimal media with glucose as the sole carbon source, while the experimental groups were cultured in minimal media with glucose and DMT (see Materials and Methods for details). Data analysis was conducted in R software using DESeq2 and clusterProfiler.

Article Snippet: Rhodococcus opacus PD630 was obtained from DSMZ (identifier: DSMZ 44193).

Techniques: Gene Expression, Generated, RNA Sequencing, Control, Cell Culture, Software

Journal: Metabolic Engineering Communications

Article Title: Elucidating biodegradation of dimethyl terephthalate by two Rhodococcus strains for its valorization applications

doi: 10.1016/j.mec.2026.e00271

Figure Lengend Snippet: DMT and MMT degradation by PD630 and RPET knockout strains. a) DMT and MMT concentration profiles of PD630 knockout strains with DMT as substrate; b) DMT and MMT concentration profiles of RPET knockout strains with DMT Feed or MMT Feed. The strains were cultured in minimal media supplemented with 1 g/L glucose and 20 mg/L DMT or MMT, and samples were collected 8 h after inoculation. c) RPET ΔRS21885 cultured in two conditions: Glu only (1 g/L glucose alone) and Glu + DMT (1 g/L glucose and 1 g/L DMT); d) DMT and MMT concentration profiles of RPET ΔRS21885 under Glu + DMT condition. The inocula for all were pre-grown in glucose-containing minimal media. In a) and b), dashed lines indicate the initial substrate concentrations; ∗∗ indicates p < 0.01, and ∗∗∗ indicates p < 0.001. In d), the dashed line indicates the theoretical concentration of 1 g/L DMT if completely dissolved. All experiments were performed in triplicate, and error bars represent standard deviations. Details related to the knockout genes are provided in .

Article Snippet: Rhodococcus opacus PD630 was obtained from DSMZ (identifier: DSMZ 44193).

Techniques: Knock-Out, Concentration Assay, Cell Culture