Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Bacterial synthesis of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates

Bacterial synthesis of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates Summary Various bacterial species accumulate intracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) granules as energy and carbon reserves inside their cells. PHAs are biodegradable, environmentally friendly and biocompatible thermoplastics. Varying in toughness and flexibility, depending on their formulation, they can be used in various ways similar to many nonbiodegradable petrochemical plastics currently in use. They can be used either in pure form or as additives to oil‐derived plastics such as polyethylene. However, these bioplastics are currently far more expensive than petrochemically based plastics and are therefore used mostly in applications that conventional plastics cannot perform, such as medical applications. PHAs are immunologically inert and are only slowly degraded in human tissue, which means they can be used as devices inside the body. Recent research has focused on the use of alternative substrates, novel extraction methods, genetically enhanced species and mixed cultures with a view to make PHAs more commercially attractive. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Microbiology Wiley

Bacterial synthesis of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/bacterial-synthesis-of-biodegradable-polyhydroxyalkanoates-n8eqLVYSLB

References (149)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
1364-5072
eISSN
1365-2672
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2672.2007.03335.x
pmid
17578408
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Summary Various bacterial species accumulate intracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) granules as energy and carbon reserves inside their cells. PHAs are biodegradable, environmentally friendly and biocompatible thermoplastics. Varying in toughness and flexibility, depending on their formulation, they can be used in various ways similar to many nonbiodegradable petrochemical plastics currently in use. They can be used either in pure form or as additives to oil‐derived plastics such as polyethylene. However, these bioplastics are currently far more expensive than petrochemically based plastics and are therefore used mostly in applications that conventional plastics cannot perform, such as medical applications. PHAs are immunologically inert and are only slowly degraded in human tissue, which means they can be used as devices inside the body. Recent research has focused on the use of alternative substrates, novel extraction methods, genetically enhanced species and mixed cultures with a view to make PHAs more commercially attractive.

Journal

Journal of Applied MicrobiologyWiley

Published: Jun 1, 2007

There are no references for this article.