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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Bioproducts Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383204
Research Project: Bioproducts and Biopolymers from Agricultural Feedstocks

Location: Bioproducts Research

Title: Production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutryate) copolymers in Bacillus megaterium

Author
item CAL, ANDREW - Mango Materials
item Kibblewhite, Rena
item SIKKEMA, DIRK - Volunteer
item Torres, Lennard
item Hart-Cooper, William
item Orts, William
item Lee, Charles

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/14/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Persistent plastic waste is contaminating natural environments around the world. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biological polyesters that can be used as a plastic replacement and can be biodegraded in a variety of environments. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P[3HB]) is the most common PHA found in nature and this polymer has high stiffness and strength; however, P(3HB) is not an ideal material for applications that require toughness and less stiffness. Polyhydroxybutyrate copolymers composed of 3HB and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) are more elastic and tougher than the P(3HB) homopolymer. In this work, a Bacillus megaterium strain was engineered to generate poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutryate) (P[3HB-co-4HB]) copolymers without the use of expensive four-carbon media supplements. A pathway containing three genes was transformed into B. megaterium that allowed the organism to produce the 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA substrate from a citric acid cycle intermediate. P(3HB-co-4HB) copolymer was produced containing >10% mol fraction 4HB.