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Butyrate as preferred substrate for polyhydroxybutyrate production.
Leonie Marang1, Yang Jiang, Mark C M van Loosdrecht
1Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands.
Bioresource Technology
|June 8, 2013
Summary
Butyrate significantly enhances polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production by microbial cultures compared to acetate. Optimizing pre-fermentation for butyrate is key for efficient, waste-based PHA manufacturing.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Polymer Science
Background:
- Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers with diverse applications.
- Microbial PHA production is a sustainable alternative to petrochemical plastics.
- Optimizing substrate utilization is crucial for efficient PHA biosynthesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate butyrate as a substrate for PHA production.
- To compare PHA production using butyrate versus acetate.
- To identify optimal conditions for microbial PHA synthesis.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing sequencing batch reactors under feast-famine conditions.
- Operating reactors with butyrate and mixed acetate-butyrate feeds.
- Comparing results with previous studies using acetate as sole substrate.
- Analyzing microbial community composition, focusing on Plasticicumulans acidivorans.
Main Results:
- Butyrate supported significantly higher carbon uptake rates and PHA yields than acetate.
- PHA production rate was higher when using butyrate as the substrate.
- Plasticicumulans acidivorans dominated enrichment cultures in all tested conditions.
- Microbial cultures preferentially consumed butyrate over acetate when both were present.
Conclusions:
- Butyrate is a superior substrate for PHA production compared to acetate.
- Substrate uptake rate appears to be the rate-limiting step in PHA production.
- Directing pre-fermentation towards butyrate production can optimize waste-based PHA manufacturing.
Keywords:
ButyrateHPLCHRTMicrobial enrichment culturePHAPHBPlasticicumulans acidivoransPolyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)SBRSRTSSqRETSSVFAWaste valorizationhigh-performance liquid chromatographyhydraulic retention timepolyhydroxyalkanoatepolyhydroxybutyratesequencing batch reactorsolids retention timesum of the squared relative errortotal suspended solidsvolatile fatty acidMore Related Videos
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