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Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production

BACKGROUND: Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polyester with thermoplastic properties that is naturally occurring and produced by such bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha H16 and Bacillus megaterium. In contrast to currently utilized plastics and most synthetic polymers, PHB is biodegradable, and its pro...

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Autores principales: Hempel, Franziska, Bozarth, Andrew S, Lindenkamp, Nicole, Klingl, Andreas, Zauner, Stefan, Linne, Uwe, Steinbüchel, Alexander, Maier, Uwe G
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3214846/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22004563
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-10-81
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author Hempel, Franziska
Bozarth, Andrew S
Lindenkamp, Nicole
Klingl, Andreas
Zauner, Stefan
Linne, Uwe
Steinbüchel, Alexander
Maier, Uwe G
author_facet Hempel, Franziska
Bozarth, Andrew S
Lindenkamp, Nicole
Klingl, Andreas
Zauner, Stefan
Linne, Uwe
Steinbüchel, Alexander
Maier, Uwe G
author_sort Hempel, Franziska
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polyester with thermoplastic properties that is naturally occurring and produced by such bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha H16 and Bacillus megaterium. In contrast to currently utilized plastics and most synthetic polymers, PHB is biodegradable, and its production is not dependent on fossil resources making this bioplastic interesting for various industrial applications. RESULTS: In this study, we report on introducing the bacterial PHB pathway of R. eutropha H16 into the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, thereby demonstrating for the first time that PHB production is feasible in a microalgal system. Expression of the bacterial enzymes was sufficient to result in PHB levels of up to 10.6% of algal dry weight. The bioplastic accumulated in granule-like structures in the cytosol of the cells, as shown by light and electron microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies demonstrate the great potential of microalgae like the diatom P. tricornutum to serve as solar-powered expression factories and reveal great advantages compared to plant based production systems.
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spelling pubmed-32148462011-11-15 Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production Hempel, Franziska Bozarth, Andrew S Lindenkamp, Nicole Klingl, Andreas Zauner, Stefan Linne, Uwe Steinbüchel, Alexander Maier, Uwe G Microb Cell Fact Research BACKGROUND: Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polyester with thermoplastic properties that is naturally occurring and produced by such bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha H16 and Bacillus megaterium. In contrast to currently utilized plastics and most synthetic polymers, PHB is biodegradable, and its production is not dependent on fossil resources making this bioplastic interesting for various industrial applications. RESULTS: In this study, we report on introducing the bacterial PHB pathway of R. eutropha H16 into the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, thereby demonstrating for the first time that PHB production is feasible in a microalgal system. Expression of the bacterial enzymes was sufficient to result in PHB levels of up to 10.6% of algal dry weight. The bioplastic accumulated in granule-like structures in the cytosol of the cells, as shown by light and electron microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies demonstrate the great potential of microalgae like the diatom P. tricornutum to serve as solar-powered expression factories and reveal great advantages compared to plant based production systems. BioMed Central 2011-10-17 /pmc/articles/PMC3214846/ /pubmed/22004563 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-10-81 Text en Copyright ©2011 Hempel et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Hempel, Franziska
Bozarth, Andrew S
Lindenkamp, Nicole
Klingl, Andreas
Zauner, Stefan
Linne, Uwe
Steinbüchel, Alexander
Maier, Uwe G
Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title_full Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title_fullStr Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title_full_unstemmed Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title_short Microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
title_sort microalgae as bioreactors for bioplastic production
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3214846/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22004563
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-10-81
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