Biosynthesis of Biopolyester from the mixed substrates of glycerin and fatty acid/amino acids

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24550179
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Environmental chemistry
• Research Institution: Ryukoku University
• Principal Investigator: NAKAOKI Takahiko 龍谷大学, 理工学部, 教授 (90257824)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ISHII Daisuke 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科, 特任助教 (70415074)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ポリ（3-ヒドロキシアルカノエート） / 生合成 / グリセリン / 脂肪酸 / アミノ酸 / 収量

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plant oils are composed of triglycerides. Glycerin is derived from plant oil, however glycerin is not widely used in industrial applications. As for poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) （P3HA） biosynthesis from glycerin, there have been only a small number of studies reported because glycerin is not a good carbon source for PHA biosynthesis. When the mixed substrate of glycerin and fatty acid is used as carbon sources for biosynthesizing P3HA by Ralstonia eutropha, we found that the addition of small amount of fatty acid to glycerin makes the polymer yield enhance. The polymer yield is about 1.3 times larger than the use of original carbon sources. Amino acids are another good carbon source to accumulate P3HA. In this case, phosphate-free medium was used because amino acid itself contains nitrogen. The cultivation of leucine and glycerin as carbon sources successfully improved the polymer yield with 3 times larger polymer yield than the original ones.

Free Research Field

高分子化学