A new esterase from Thermobifida halotolerans (Thh_Est) was cloned and expressed in E. coli and investigated for surface hydrolysis of polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Thh_Est is a member of the serine hydrolases superfamily containing the -GxSxG- motif with 85–87% homology to an esterase from T. alba, to an acetylxylan esterase from T. fusca and to various Thermobifida cutinases. Thh_Est hydrolyzed the PET model substrate bis(benzoyloxyethyl)terephthalate and PET releasing terephthalic acid and mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate in comparable amounts (19.8 and 21.5 mmol/mol of enzyme) while no higher oligomers like bis-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate were detected. Similarly, PLA was hydrolyzed as indicated by the release of lactic acid. Enzymatic surface hydrolysis of PET and PLA led to a strong hydrophilicity increase, as quantified with a WCA decrease from 90.8° and 75.5° to 50.4° and to a complete spread of the water drop on the surface, respectively.

A novel esterase, PpEst, that hydrolyses the co-aromatic-aliphatic polyester poly(1,4-butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) was identified by proteomic screening of the Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes secretome. PpEst was induced by the presence of PBAT in the growth media and had predicted arylesterase (EC 3.1.1.2) activity. PpEst showed polyesterase activity on both whole and milled PBAT film releasing terephthalic acid and 4-(4-hydroxybutoxycarbonyl)benzoic acid while end product inhibition by 4-(4-hydroxybutoxycarbonyl)benzoic acid was observed. Modelling of an aromatic polyester mimicking oligomer into the PpEst active site indicated that the binding pocket could be big enough to accommodate large polymers. This is the first report of a PBAT degrading enzyme being identified by proteomic screening and shows that this approach can contribute to the discovery of new polymer hydrolysing enzymes. Moreover, these results indicate that arylesterases could be an interesting enzyme class for identifications of polyesterases.