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Polyhydroxyalkanoate production from anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent by new bacterial strain Comamonas sp. EB172

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Abstract

A new isolate designated as strain EB172 was isolated from a digester treating palm oil mill effluent and was investigated by polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-pigmented, non-spore-forming and non-fermentative. Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain clustered with the genus Comamonas. Its closest neighbours were the type strains Comamonas terrigena (96.8%), Comamonas koreensis (93.4%), Comamonas composti (92.9%), and Comamonas kerstersii (91.1%). The ability of the strain EB172 to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) when supplied with organic acids made this bacterium unique among Comamonas species. The bacterial strain was clearly distinguished from all of the existing strains by phylogenetic analysis, fatty acid composition and a range of physiological and biochemical characteristics. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 59.1 mol%. The strain showed good growth in acetic, propionic and n-butyric acids. Comamonas sp. EB172 produced 9.8 g/l of cell dry weight and accumulated 59 (wt%) of PHAs when supplemented with mixed organic acids from anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent. It is evident from the genotypic, phenotypic data and ability to produce PHAs that strain EB172 represents a new strain in the genus Comamonas (GeneBank accession no. EU847238).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Federal Land Development Authority, Malaysia (FELDA), Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation, Malaysia (MOSTI) for funding and technical support during the study period.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mohd Rafein Zakaria, Meisam Tabatabaei, Suraini Abd-Aziz & Mohd Ali Hassan

  2. Department of Food Sciences, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Farinazleen Mohamad Ghazali

  3. Department of Biological Functions and Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 808-0196, Japan

    Yoshihito Shirai

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  1. Mohd Rafein Zakaria
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  2. Meisam Tabatabaei
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  3. Farinazleen Mohamad Ghazali
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  4. Suraini Abd-Aziz
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  5. Yoshihito Shirai
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  6. Mohd Ali Hassan
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Correspondence to Mohd Rafein Zakaria.

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Zakaria, M.R., Tabatabaei, M., Ghazali, F.M. et al. Polyhydroxyalkanoate production from anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent by new bacterial strain Comamonas sp. EB172. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26, 767–774 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-009-0232-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-009-0232-y

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