Production of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-Hydroxyhexanoate) Using Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 Grown in Mixed Carbon Source

IntroductionPolyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are intracellularenergy storage materials and/or reduction agentsthat are synthesized by many microorganisms[1 ] .Because these bacterial PHAs are trulybiodegradable thermoplastics or elastomers,theyhave attracted much attention in industry[2 ,3 ] .Poly(3 -hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) wasthefirst PHA to beproduced on a large scale and poly (3 -hydroxybutyrate-co-3 -hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)was laterused in commercial applications.Recently,novel PHA copo…

Production of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-Hydroxyhexanoate) Using Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 Grown in Mixed Carbon Source

Aeromonas hydrophila 4AK4 was grown on mixed substrates of soybean oil and lauric acid for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer consisting of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx). A maximal poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) content of 49.13% in dry cells was obtained in a shake flask culture. PHBHHx of 6.26 -g/L was produced in a fermentation experiment over 48 -h on a sole carbon source containing 100 -g/L soybean oil, while 12.40 -g/L PHBHHx was produced on a mixed carbon source containing 80 -g/L soybean and 20 g/L lauric acid over the same period of time, resulting in a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) productivity of 0.25 -g/(L*h). The results show that mixed carbon sources are suitable for industrialized production of PHBHHx from A. hydrophila 4AK4, as the mixed carbon sources also overcome the foaming problem that occurs when lauric acid is employed as a sole carbon source in PHBHHx production.