Polyhydroxyalkanoate production from crude glycerol by newly isolated Pandoraea sp.

Abstract

A new bacterial strain was isolated from Atlantic rainforest in Brazil for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production utilizing crude glycerol from biodiesel industry (CG) and it was identified as Pandoraea sp. MA03. Shake flask experiments were performed at 10–50gL−1 carbon source and showed the best values of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) production from CG cultivations compared to pure glycerol, with a polymer accumulation ranging from 49.0% to 63.6% cell dry weight (CDW). The results obtained from this study showed a positive effect of contaminant NaCl on P3HB synthesis up to 30gL−1 CG. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV)] production was obtained from CG plus propionic acid with up to 25.9mol% 3HV. Since it is interesting the utilization of CG for obtaining added-value products along with biodiesel, this study reported a novel and promising PHA-producing bacterial strain as an additional effort to enhance the viability of a sustainable industry based on biofuels and biopolymers.