A combination of in vivo selection and cell sorting for the identification of enantioselective biocatalysts.

The “carrot and stick” principle could be combined with cell sorting to enable the selection of enantioselective esterase variants from a mutant library. Hence, the enormous diversity generated in directed evolution experiments is now easily accessible by this high-throughput system. In line with the principle, the hydrolysis of 1 glycerin supports cell growth, whereas the hydrolysis of 2 leads to cell death.