Isolation of copolymers of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from Aneurinibacillus sp. H1

abstract

English

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are native polyesters accumulated as intracellular granules by numerous bacteria and the content of polymer reaches up to 90%wt of cell dry weight. These compounds are biodegradable and biocompatible which make them more suitable in comparison with conventional plastics. Especially copolymers have great potential due to better mechanical properties in comparison with homopolymers such as well known poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB). In our experiments, we used thermophilic isolate which was taxonomically classified as Aneurinibacillus sp. H1 as a PHA producing bacterial strain of capable of synthesis of copolymer P(3HB-co-4HB). For isolation of homopolymers of PHAs is mostly used chloroform. Using this solvent for extraction results in product which is still pure and without any physical changes. On other hand, chloroform does not among environmentally friendly solvents. Therefore, we used several alternative solvents such as acetone, isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran, ethylacetate to recover PHA from bacterial biomass. We used various techniques for characterization of efficiency of isolation, structural differences and molar mass of copolymer P(3HB-co-4HB) such as GC, ATR-FTIR, eSEM and SEC-MALS. Structural changes of films of isolated material were visible at a glance where number and size of microstructural pores were dependent on used solvent. This material with specific properties could be used in various branches of industry (food chemistry, medicine, etc.).

polyhydroxyalkanoates; copolymer; Aneurinibacillus sp.; solvent

SLANINOVÁ, E.; KRUPIČKOVÁ, K.; SEDLÁČEK, P.; OBRUČA, S.

25. 2. 2021

1314-3530

Biotechnology and Biotechnological Equipment

35

1

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

20

21

1