Microbial Synthesis and Properties of Polyhydroxy-alkanoates

Abstract

A wide variety of microorganisms accumulate an optically active polymer of D(−)-3-hydroxybutyric acid, P(3HB), as an intracellular storage material of carbon and energy. The P(3HB) was first isolated from Bacillus megaterium in 1925 by Lemoigne. Many prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria and cyanobacteria, have been found to accumulate P(3HB) up to 80% of their cellular dry weight when growth is limited by the depletion of an essential nutrient such as nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, or magnesium. Recently, many bacteria have been found to accumulate copolymers of D(−)3-hydroxy-alkanoic acids with a chain length ranging from three to 14 carbon atoms. In addition, 4-hydroxybutyric acid was found as a constituent of bacterial polyhy-droxyalkanoates (PHA).Bacterial PHA polymers have attracted much attention as environmentally degradable thermoplastics for a wide range of agricultural, marine, and medical applications. PHA is degraded in soil, sludge, or sea water. Some microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi secrete extracellular PHA depolymerases to degrade environmental PHA and utilize the decomposed compounds as nutrients. In this article, I report the metabolism, production, and properties of bacterial PHA.