[Introduction of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene in a recombinant E. coli for PHB production]

Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb) was introduced into the recombinant Escherichia coli VG1(pTU14) for production of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), in order to enhance the oxygen uptake of strain from molecular level and to solve the problem of oxygen limitation in process of fermentation. The carbon monoxide difference spectra analysis of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) showed that vgb could be successfully expressed in VG1 (pTU14), and this expression was under the regulation of dissolved oxygen (DO). The higher amounts of VHb could be got correspond to the lower level of DO. Because of the introduction of vgb, cell growth and PHB accumulation of VG1 (pTU14) were all strongly promoted during the process of batch culture.