Session: POLY/PMSE Poster Session:

The excessive usage of petroleum-based plastics has left a detrimental impact on the environment, jeopardizing the future of our planet. In this regard, an eco-friendly substitution of such plastics is of high demand for consumers, industry, and regulators. Biopolymers, which are produced by living organisms, can offer advantages over commercial plastics by their biodegradability and biocompatibility. Among the list of biopolymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have emerged as potential candidates for this purpose owing to their superior physiochemical properties. However, sustainable production of PHAs is limited due to the high production costs, especially fermentation process. To address this issue, researchers have been focused on utilization of abundant and cost-effective nutrition and carbon sources from agricultural to food and biodiesel industry wastes. Here in, we demonstrated the possibility of using horse manure hydrolysate (HMH) as a carbon source for sustainable bioproduction of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) using an engineered strain of E. coli harboring necessary genes—that is—phaCAB. Our studies demonstrate no significant growth inhibition of HMH in culture medium indicating successful elimination of toxic compounds (e.g., furfural). The composition of HMH was studied and Xylose was found as the dominant sugar. In addition, the amount of PHB isolated from bacteria using HMH as the carbon source was similar to that of control, in which glucose was used.

Alireza Abbaspourrad

Cornell University

Appearances