Commercial Production Of Polyhydroxyalkanoates Research Articles

Synthesis of Biodegradable Polymer Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) in CyanobacteriaSynechococcus elongatesUnder Mixotrophic Nitrogen- and Phosphate-Mediated Stress Conditions

Abstract Biopolymers like polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a class of metabolites with promising applications in the fields of environmental, agricultural, and biomedical sciences. Commercial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates is a high-cost process generally carried out using heterotrophic species of bacteria. Using algae for intracellular PHA accumulation is an alternative method for bioplastic production. In the present study, cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongates was identified as a potential PHA-producing organism. A range of experimental conditions that include different growth parameters of nitrogen and phosphate starvation with the addition of external carbon sources under photoautotrophic and chemoheterotrophic growth conditions were examined. Our observations revealed that the algal cells cultured in nitrogen-starved medium under phototrophic conditions yield the highest quantity of PHA (17.15%) when 1% sucrose is used as a carbon source. Similarly, under chemotrophic conditions, the highest PH...