Photo-driven decarboxylation for sustainable biofuel production: a review on harnessing the potential of fatty acid decarboxylases

Fatty acid photodecarboxylase (FAP) has emerged as a green biocatalyst to produce biofuel from sustainable feedstocks under the illumination of visible light. However, oxidative damage by photogenerated radicals and structural destabilization of enzymes by organic solvents result in the poor stability of FAP. Meanwhile, the low efficiency of light and mass transfer in conventional photoreactors and poor substrate availability limit the catalytic performance of FAP. This review covers three strategies to improve FAP stability: (1) the removal of the radical effect, (2) the improvement of enzyme tolerance to organic solvents, and (3) the directed evolution of FAP by protein engineering. Furthermore, the design of a photobioreactor and enzyme engineering are elaborately discussed to enhance catalytic performance.