Abstract
Over reliance on energy or petroleum products has raised concerns both in regards to the depletion of their associated natural resources as well as their increasing costs. Bioplastics derived from microbes are emerging as promising alternatives to fossil fuel derived petroleum plastics. The development of a simple and eco-friendly strategy for bioplastic production with high productivity and yield, which is produced in a cost effective manner utilising abundantly available renewable carbon sources, would have the potential to result in an inexhaustible global energy source. Here we report the biosynthesis of bioplastic polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) in pure cultures of marine bacterium, Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 (Sde 2-40), its contaminant, Bacillus cereus, and a co-culture of these bacteria (Sde 2-40 and B. cereus) degrading plant and algae derived complex polysaccharides. Sde 2-40 degraded the complex polysaccharides agarose and xylan as sole carbon sources for biosynthesis of PHAs. The ability of Sde 2-40 to degrade agarose increased after co-culturing with B. cereus. The association of Sde 2-40 with B. cereus resulted in increased cell growth and higher PHA production (34.5% of dry cell weight) from xylan as a carbon source in comparison to Sde 2-40 alone (22.7% of dry cell weight). The present study offers an innovative prototype for production of PHA through consolidated bioprocessing of complex carbon sources by pure and co-culture of microorganisms.
Highlights
Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 (Sde 2-40; early name Microbulbifer degradans 2-40), a motile gamma proteobacterium of marine origin, uniquely utilises different carbon sources and degrades a variety of complex polysaccharides such as agar, alginic acid, carrageenan, cellulose, chitin, glucan, laminarin, pectin, pullulan, starch, and xylans [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This study describes PHA production through consolidated bioprocessing of agarose and xylan by Sde 2-40, B. cereus, and co-culture of Sde
The lag phase on agarose was slightly longer for Sde 2-40 as compared to the co-culture
Summary
Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 (Sde 2-40; early name Microbulbifer degradans 2-40), a motile gamma proteobacterium of marine origin, uniquely utilises different carbon sources and degrades a variety of complex polysaccharides such as agar, alginic acid, carrageenan, cellulose, chitin, glucan, laminarin, pectin, pullulan, starch, and xylans [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Sde 2-40 can powerfully degrade polysaccharides from plant and marine sources. The principal constituent of plant cell wall hemicellulose, is copiously occurring polysaccharide next to cellulose [9]. Different microorganisms under stress conditions of growth can natively produce carbon storage polyesters like polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) [10,11]. Poly(3-hydroxyburyrate) (PHB) is the most commonly produced PHA by bacteria.
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