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Waste rapeseed oil as a substrate for medium‐chain‐length polyhydroxyalkanoates production
Author(s) -
Możejko Justyna,
Przybyłek Grzegorz,
Ciesielski Slawomir
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european journal of lipid science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.614
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1438-9312
pISSN - 1438-7697
DOI - 10.1002/ejlt.201100148
Subject(s) - polyhydroxyalkanoates , bioplastic , food science , strain (injury) , rapeseed , chemistry , raw material , pseudomonas , polyester , biochemistry , bacteria , organic chemistry , biology , ecology , genetics , anatomy
Medium‐chain‐length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl‐PHAs) are biodegradable, biocompatible polyesters produced by many bacteria as intracellular storage compounds of energy and carbon. They have gained great attention as a new green alternative to petrochemical plastic such as polypropylene. The present study was focused on mcl‐PHA production by two Pseudomonas strains (Gl01 and Gl06). To make this process more economical, waste rapeseed oil was used as a carbon source. The levels of PHAs synthesized by Pseudomonas sp. Gl01 strain and Gl06 strain were 21.0%, and 19.3% of CDW, respectively. The polyester accumulation increased until nitrogen and oxygen were depleted from the medium. Reverse transcription real‐time PCR approach was applied to quantitatively evaluate phaC1 , phaC2 , and phaZ gene expression. A positive correlation was found between the cellular PHA content and the gene expression of the PHA synthases. The transcriptional analysis revealed that the phaC1 and phaZ genes could be co‐transcribed. The overexpressed phaC2 gene was only observed in the Gl06 strain. The monomeric composition of the obtained mcl‐PHA was dependent on the strain: 3‐hydroxyoctanoic acid (3HO) and 3‐hydroxydecanoic acid (3HD) were dominant in strain Gl01, whereas 3‐hydroxyhexanoic (3HHx) was present in significant amounts in strain Gl06. Practical applications: This article presents the procedure of medium‐chain‐length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl‐PHAs) synthesis by the Pseudomonas Gl01 and Gl06 strains from waste rapeseed oil as a feedstock. Beside the microbial production of these environmentally friendly plastics, this approach also represents a new way of utilizing waste oils. The knowledge of the key enzymes involved in mcl‐PHAs accumulation is necessary in order to understand the mechanisms of their synthesis, and to use them effectively in biotechnological applications.