Biocatalysis with immobilized Escherichia coli

Immobilization is one of the great tools for developing economically and ecologically available biocatalysts and can be applied for both enzymes and whole cells. Much research dealing with the immobilization of Escherichia coli has been published in the past two decades. E. coli in the form of immobilized biocatalyst catalyzes many interesting reactions and has been used mainly in laboratories, but also on an industrial scale, leading to the production of valuable substances. It has the potential to be applied in many fields of modern biotechnology. This paper aims to give a general overview of immobilization techniques and matrices suitable mostly for entrapment, encapsulation, and adsorption, which have been most frequently used for the immobilization of E. coli. An extensive analysis reviewing the history and current state of immobilized E. coli catalyzing different types of biotransformations is provided. The review is organized according to the enzymes expressed in immobilized E. coli, which were grouped into main enzyme classes. The industrial applications of immobilized E. coli biocatalyst are also discussed.