Abstract
With the impending fossil fuel crisis, the search for and development of alternative chemical/material substitutes is pivotal in reducing mankind's dependency on fossil resources. One of the potential substitute candidates is polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). PHA is a carbon-neutral and valuable polymer that could be produced from many renewable carbon sources by microorganisms, making it a sustainable and environmental-friendly material. At present, PHA is not cost competitive compared to fossil-derived products. Encouraging and intensifying research work on PHA is anticipated to enhance its economic viability in the future. The development of various biomolecular and chemical techniques for PHA analysis has led to the identification of many PHA-producing microbial strains, some of which are deposited in culture collections. Research work on PHA could be rapidly initiated with these ready-to-use techniques and microbial strains. This review aims to facilitate the start-up of PHA research by providing a summary of commercially available PHA-accumulating microbial cultures, PHA biosynthetic pathways, and methods for PHA detection, extraction and analysis. © 2014 by the authors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 706-754 |
| Journal | Polymers |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].Research Keywords
- Archaea
- Bacteria
- Biopolymer
- Pathway
- PHA
- PHA characterization
- PHA detection
- PHA extraction
- Polyhydroxyalkanoate
Publisher's Copyright Statement
- This full text is made available under CC-BY 3.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/