• Poster No.: 2S-Ba01
  • Presentation Time: September 10, 2014　9:05-
  • Title: Production of bioplastics from volatile fatty acids
  • Author(s): ○Yung-Hun Yang1, Jong-Min Jeon1, Christopher J Brigham2, Anthony J Sinskey3
    (1Dept. Biol. Eng., KonkuK Univ., 2Dept Bioeng., Univ. Massachusetts Dartmouth, 3Dept. Biology, Massachusetts Inst.Technol.)

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have been emphasized as a potential alternative for petroleum-based plastics by virtue of their physical properties and environmentally friendly characteristics. Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (P(HB-co-HV)) and Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyhexanoate) (P(HB-co-HHx)) have been considered for fabrication of biocompatible and absorbable medical devices and other applications. Depending on the application, however, specific mechanical or processing properties must be improved. To address these required properties, we applied metabolic engineering techniques to produce (P(HB-co-HV)) and (P(HB-co-HHx) and produced PHAs with engineered strains resulting predominant amount of incorporation of 3-hydroxyvalerate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate from volatile acids. This will be also possible utilization of volatile acids, which are major byproducts in anaerobic cultures.