Microbial Based Polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a group of natural biopolymers synthesised by a wide variety of microbial genera. It is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic consisting of a repeated chain of various hydroxyalkanoate monomers.PHA is envisioned to be one of the most prospective and futuristic materials which is beneficial to mankind and to the world. In current world trends which concerns at the sustainable development from renewable and eco-friendly resources, PHA has garnered a growing attention as an alternative to petroleum based plastics.The book comes with two main objectives. In this book, major pipelines in processing this beneficial biopolymer were first reviewed from upstream to the downstream. The upstream processing includes the isolation of PHA producers, biosynthesis of PHA, genetic modification of PHA producers and optimisation of PHA production; meanwhile the downstream processing covers the PHA recovery and purification, degradation, quantification, characterisation, as well as the application of PHA. Readers will be exposed to the introductory information, along with some necessary concepts behind each subject.The second objective of this book is to provide readers with the recent advances on each PHA processing field. Being updated with the recent findings, this will provide an insight to readers on how the research trends for each subject are evolving from time to time. These updates will become useful case studies and quick references to readers from various areas, either from academia or industry.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate(s) (PHA) are a group of natural biopolymers which are synthesised by a wide variety of microbial genera. PHA are biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastics consisting of a repeated chain of various hydroxyalkanoate monomers. PHA are envisioned to be one of the most promising and futuristic materials which will be beneficial to mankind and the world. Current world trends are focused on sustainable development from renewable and eco-friendly resources; hence, PHA have garnered growing attention as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. 'Microbial-based Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Upstream and Downstream Processing' has two main objectives: firstly, the major pipelines in processing this beneficial biopolymer are reviewed from upstream to downstream. The upstream processing section includes the isolation of PHA producers, biosynthesis of PHA, genetic modification of PHA producers and optimisation of PHA production; while the downstream processing review covers PHA recovery and purification, degradation, quantification, characterisation, as well as the applications of PHA. Readers will be exposed to introductory information, along with some necessary concepts behind each subject. The second objective of this book is to provide readers with the recent advances on each PHA processing field. Being updated with recent findings will provide readers with an insight into how the research trends for each subject are evolving over time. These updates will become useful case studies and quick references to readers from various areas of academia and industry.

The first volume of the "Handbook of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA): Microbial Biosynthesis and Feedstocks" focusses on feedstock aspects, enzymology, metabolism and genetic engineering of PHA biosynthesis. It addresses better understanding the mechanisms of PHA biosynthesis in scientific terms and profiting from this understanding in order to enhance PHA biosynthesis in bio-technological terms and in terms of PHA microstructure. It further discusses making PHA competitive for outperforming established petrol-based plastics on industrial scale and obstacles for market penetration of PHA. Aimed at professionals and graduate students in Polymer (plastic) industry, wastewater treatment plants, food industry, biodiesel industry, this book Covers the intracellular on-goings in PHA-accumulating bacteria Assesses diverse feedstocks to be used as carbon source for PHA production including current knowledge on PHA biosynthesis starting from inexpensive waste feedstocks Summarizes recent relevant results dealing with PHA production from various organic by-products Presents the key elements to understand and fine-tune the microstructure and sequence-controlled molecular architecture of PHA co-polyesters Discusses the use of CO-rich syngas, sourced from various organic waste materials, for PHA biosynthesis

The Handbook of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) focusses on and addresses varying facets of PHA biosynthesis and processing, spread across three volumes. The first volume discusses feedstock aspects, enzymology, metabolism and genetic engineering of PHA biosynthesis. It addresses better understanding the mechanisms of PHA biosynthesis in scientific terms and profiting from this understanding in order to enhance PHA biosynthesis in bio-technological terms and in terms of PHA microstructure. It further discusses making PHA competitive for outperforming established petrol-based plastics on industrial scale and obstacles for market penetration of PHA. This second volume focusses on thermodynamic and mathematical considerations of PHA biosynthesis, bioengineering aspects regarding bioreactor design and downstream processing for PHA recovery from microbial biomass. It covers microbial mixed culture processes and includes a strong industry-focused section with chapters on the economics of PHA production, industrial-scale PHA production from sucrose, next generation industrial biotechnology approaches for PHA production based on novel robust production strains, and holistic techno-economic and sustainability considerations on PHA manufacturing. Third volume is on the production of functionalized PHA bio-polyesters, the post-synthetic modification of PHA, processing and additive manufacturing of PHA, development and properties of PHA-based (bio)composites and blends, the market potential of PHA and follow-up materials, different bulk- and niche applications of PHA, and the fate and use of spent PHA items. Divided into fourteen chapters, it describes functionalized PHA and PHA modification, processing and their application including degradation of spent PHA-based products and fate of these bio-polyesters during compositing and other disposal strategies. Aimed at professionals and graduate students in Polymer (plastic) industry, wastewater treatment plants, food industry, biodiesel industry, this set: Presents comprehensive and holistic consideration of these microbial bioplastics in the volumes. Enables reader to learn about microbiological, enzymatic, genetic, synthetic biology, and metabolic aspects of PHA biosynthesis based on the latest scientific discoveries. Discusses design and operate a PHA production plant. Strong focus on post-synthetic modification, preparation of functional PHA and follow-up products, and PHA processing. Covers all related engineering considerations

Living systems synthesize seven different classes of polymers. They provide structure and form for cells and organisms, function as catalysts and energy storage and carry the genetic information. All these polymers possess technically interesting properties. Some of these biopolymers are already used commercially. This special volume of Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology comprises 10 chapters. It gives an overview of the water insoluble biopolyesters, in particular of the microbially synthesized poly-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family. It reports the state of the art of metabolism, regulation and genetic background, the latest advances made in genetic optimization of bacteria, "construction" of transgenic plants and in vitro synthesis by means of purified enzymes. Furthermore, it describes relevant technologies and evaluates perspectives concerning increasing the economic viability and competitiveness of PHA and discusses applications in medicine, packaging, food and other fields.

The result of an international symposium on bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates held in 1996, this volume illustrates the range of contemporary work on the subject, including clarification of the biosynthesis of PHAs.

Due to the possibility that petroleum supplies will be exhausted in the next decades to come, more and more attention has been paid to the production of bacterial pl- tics including polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), biopolyethylene (PE), poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT), and poly(p-phenylene) (PPP). These are well-studied polymers containing at least one monomer synthesized via bacterial transformation. Among them, PHA, PLA and PBS are well known for their biodegradability, whereas PE, PTT and PPP are probably less biodegradable or are less studied in terms of their biodegradability. Over the past years, their properties and appli- tions have been studied in detail and products have been developed. Physical and chemical modifications to reduce their cost or to improve their properties have been conducted. PHA is the only biopolyester family completely synthesized by biological means. They have been investigated by microbiologists, molecular biologists, b- chemists, chemical engineers, chemists, polymer experts, and medical researchers for many years. PHA applications as bioplastics, fine chemicals, implant biomate- als, medicines, and biofuels have been developed. Companies have been est- lished for or involved in PHA related R&D as well as large scale production. It has become clear that PHA and its related technologies form an industrial value chain in fermentation, materials, feeds, and energy to medical fields.

A comprehensive overview of the recent accomplishments in the area of polyhydroxyalkanoates.