In vivo fluorine biocatalysis: Six enzymes in search of a cell factory

In this Activity article, Pablo I. Nikel, Ditte H. Welner (senior researchers and group leaders), Antonin Cros (PhD student), Daniel Volke (tenure-track researcher) at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, discuss the need of expanding catalysis in vivo for organofluorine biosynthesis. Building on the inherent advantages of soil bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas, the authors also contend that P. putida could be an ideal platform to host the six enzymes that convert mineral fluoride into fluorinated building-blocks to pave the way to fluorine biocatalysis.