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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 3949-3954, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00044-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

New Recombinant Escherichia coli Strain Tailored for the Production of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) from Agroindustrial By-Products

Pablo I. Nikel,1,2 Alejandra de Almeida,1 Evelia C. Melillo,1 Miguel A. Galvagno,2,3 and M. Julia Pettinari1*

Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires,1 Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de General San Martín,2 Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina3

Received 8 January 2006/ Accepted 22 March 2006

A recombinant E. coli strain (K24K) was constructed and evaluated for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production from whey and corn steep liquor as main carbon and nitrogen sources. This strain bears the pha biosynthetic genes from Azotobacter sp. strain FA8 expressed from a T5 promoter under the control of the lactose operator. K24K does not produce the lactose repressor, ensuring constitutive expression of genes involved in lactose transport and utilization. PHB was efficiently produced by the recombinant strain grown aerobically in fed-batch cultures in a laboratory scale bioreactor on a semisynthetic medium supplemented with the agroindustrial by-products. After 24 h, cells accumulated PHB to 72.9% of their cell dry weight, reaching a volumetric productivity of 2.13 g PHB per liter per hour. Physical analysis of PHB recovered from the recombinants showed that its molecular weight was similar to that of PHB produced by Azotobacter sp. strain FA8 and higher than that of the polymer from Cupriavidus necator and that its glass transition temperature was approximately 20°C higher than those of PHBs from the natural producer strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Ciudad Universitaria—Pabellón 2, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Phone: 54-11-4576-3334. Fax: 54-11-4576-3342. E-mail: jul{at}qb.fcen.uba.ar.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 3949-3954, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00044-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • de Almeida, A., Nikel, P. I., Giordano, A. M., Pettinari, M. J. (2007). Effects of Granule-Associated Protein PhaP on Glycerol-Dependent Growth and Polymer Production in Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate)-Producing Escherichia coli. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 7912-7916 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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