Abstract
Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 (isolated from soil) produced a polyester consisting of 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3HB) and of medium-chain-length 3-hydroxyalkanoic acids (3HA) of C6, C8, C10 and C12, when sugars of glucose, fructose and mannose were fed as the sole carbon source. The polyester produced was a blend of homopolymer and copolymer, which could be fractionated with boiling acetone. The acetone-insoluble fraction of the polyester was a homopolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate units [poly (3HB)], while the acetone-soluble fraction was a copolymer [poly(3HB-co-3HA)] containing both short- and medium-chain-length 3-hydroxyalkanoate units ranging from C4 to C12:44 mol% 3-hydroxybutyrate, 5 mol% 3-hydroxyhexanoate, 21 mol% 3-hydroxyoctanoate, 25 mol% 3-hydroxydecanoate, 2 mol% 3-hydroxydodecanoate and 3 mol% 3-hydroxy-5-cis-dodecenoate. The copolyester was shown to be a random copolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate and medium-chain-length 3-hydroxyalkanoate units by analysis of the 13C-NMR spectrum. The poly(3HB) homopolymer and poly (3HB-co-3HA) copolymer were produced simultaneously within cells from glucose in the absence of any nitrogen source, which suggests that Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 has two types of polyhydroxy-alkanoate syntheses with different substrate specificities.
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Received: 9 June 1995/Received last revision: 30 October 1995/Accepted: 6 November 1995
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Kato, M., Bao, H., Kang, CK. et al. Production of a novel copolyester of 3-hydroxybutyric acid and medium-chain-length 3-hydroxyalkanoic acids by Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 from sugars. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 45, 363–370 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530050697
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530050697