Biosynthesis and properties of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates with enriched content of the dominant monomer

Biomacromolecules. 2012 Sep 10;13(9):2926-32. doi: 10.1021/bm3009507. Epub 2012 Aug 20.

Abstract

When grown in a nonanoic acid-limited chemostat at a dilution rate of 0.25 h(-1), Pseudomonas putida KT2440 produced poly(3-hydroxynonanoate-co-3-hydroxyheptanoate) containing 68 mol % 3-hydroxynonanoate (C9) and 32 mol % 3-hydroxyheptanoate (C7). Under the same conditions, but in the presence of acrylic acid, a fatty acid β-oxidation inhibitor, the C9 monomer content increased to 88 mol %. Cofeeding glucose (3.9 g L(-1)) and nonanoic acid (2.9 ± 0.1 g L(-1)) in continuous culture with 0.2 g L(-1) of acrylic acid in the feed, further increased the C9 content to 95 mol %. A yield of PHA from nonanoic acid of 0.93 mol mol(-1) was attained. PHA with a 3-hydroxyoctanoate (C8) content of 98 mol % was produced with the same cofeeding methodology from octanoic acid. As the dominant monomer content increased, the melting point of the poly(3-hydroxynonanoate) copolymers increased from 46 to 63 °C and that of the poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate) copolymers from 54 to 62 °C. All copolymer compositions resulted in elongation to break values of about 1300%, but tensile strength at break and Young's modulus both increased with increasing amounts of the dominant monomer.

MeSH terms

  • Acrylates / pharmacology
  • Biocatalysis
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Biocompatible Materials / metabolism
  • Bioreactors
  • Caprylates / metabolism*
  • Culture Media / chemistry
  • Elastic Modulus
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism*
  • Fermentation / drug effects
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Materials Testing
  • Polyhydroxyalkanoates / agonists
  • Polyhydroxyalkanoates / biosynthesis
  • Polyhydroxyalkanoates / chemistry*
  • Pseudomonas putida / drug effects
  • Pseudomonas putida / metabolism*
  • Tensile Strength

Substances

  • Acrylates
  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Caprylates
  • Culture Media
  • Fatty Acids
  • Polyhydroxyalkanoates
  • pelargonic acid
  • Glucose
  • acrylic acid
  • octanoic acid