| Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 June; 55(6): 1334–1339. | PMCID: PMC202867 |
Hyperproduction of Poly-β-Hydroxybutyrate during Exponential Growth of Azotobacter vinelandii UWD William J. Page * and Olga Knosp †Department of Microbiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9 Abstract The transformation of Azotobacter vinelandii UW with A. vinelandii 113 DNA resulted in the formation of rifampin-resistant colonies, 13% of which also inherited a previously unrecognized mutation in the respiratory NADH oxidase. These transformants produced colonies with a white-sectored phenotype after prolonged incubation. Cells from these sectors were separated and purified by streaking and were named UWD. The dense white phenotype was due to the production of a large amount of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate during the exponential growth of strain UWD. The polymer accounted for 65 or 75% of the cell dry weight after 24 h of incubation of cultures containing glucose and either ammonium acetate or N 2, respectively, as the nitrogen source. Under the same conditions, strain UW cells contained 22 to 25% poly-β-hydroxybutyrate, but O 2-limited growth was required for these optimal production values. Polymer production was not dependent on O 2 limitation in strain UWD, but the efficiency of conversion of glucose to poly-β-hydroxybutyrate was enhanced in O 2-limited cultures. Conversion efficiencies were >0.25 and 0.33 mg of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate per mg of glucose consumed under vigorous- and low-aeration conditions, respectively, compared with an efficiency of 0.05 achieved by strain UW. Strain UWD, therefore, appeared to from poly-β-hydroxybutyrate under novel conditions, which may be useful in designing new methods for the industrial production of biodegradable plastics. Full text Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (1.2M), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References. Images in this article Click on the image to see a larger version. These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article. - Ackrell, BA; Erickson, SK; Jones, CW. The respiratory-chain NADPH dehydrogenase of Azotobacter vinelandii. Eur J Biochem. 1972 Apr 11;26(3):387–392. [PubMed]
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