Biotechnological strategies to improve production of microbial poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate): a review of recent research work.

Poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate) [ P(3 HB)] is a polyester synthesized as a carbon and energy reserve material by a wide number of bacteria. This polymer is characterized by its thermo-plastic properties similar to plastics derived from petrochemical industry, such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Furthermore, P(3 HB) is an inert, biocompatible and biodegradable material which has been proposed for several uses in medical and biomedical areas. Currently, only few bacterial species such as C upriavidus necator, A zohydromonas lata and recombinant E scherichia coli have been successfully used for P(3 HB) production at industrial level. Nevertheless, in recent years, several fermentation strategies using other microbial models such as A zotobacter vinelandii, A. chroococcum, as well as some methane-utilizing species, have been developed in order to improve the P(3 HB) production and also its mean molecular weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]