Abstract
Plastic production and waste generation will continue to rise as nations worldwide grow economically. In this work, we detail a pyrolysis-based bioconversion process for polypropylene (PP) to produce value-added fatty acids (FAs). PP pellets were depolymerized by pyrolysis, generating oil that consisted of mainly branched chain fatty alcohols and alkenes. The oil was mixed with biodegradable surfactants and trace nutrients and mechanically homogenized. The resulting medium, OP4, was used for fermentation by Yarrowia lipolytica strain 78-003. Y. lipolytica assimilated > 80% of the substrate over 312 h, including 86% of the fatty alcohols. Y. lipolytica produced up to 492 mg L−1 lipids, compared with 216 mg L−1 during growth in surfactant-based control medium. C 18 compounds, including oleic acid, linoleic acid, and stearic acid, were the predominant products, followed by C 16 compounds palmitic and palmitoleic acids. Two percent of the products was C 20 compounds. The majority of the products were unsaturated FAs. Growth on hydrophobic substrates (OP4 medium, hexadecane) was compared with growth on hydrophilic substrates (glucose, starch). The resulting FA profiles revealed an absence of short-chain fatty acids during growth on hydrophobic media, findings consistent with ex novo FA biosynthesis. Overall, FA profiles by Y. lipolytica during growth in OP4 medium were similar to FA profiles while growing on natural substrates. The process described here offers an alternative approach to managing postconsumer plastic waste.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abghari A, Chen S (2014) Yarrowia lipolytica as an oleaginous cell factory platform for production of fatty acid-based biofuel and bioproducts. Front Energy Res 2:21
Ageitos JM, Vallejo JA, Veiga-Crespo P, Villa TG (2011) Oily yeasts as oleaginous cell factories. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 90:1219–1227
Aggelis SPG (2002) Lipid production by Yarrowia lipolytica growing on industrial glycerol in a single-stage continuous culture. Bioresour Technol 82:43–49
André A, Chatzifragkou A, Diamantopoulou P, Sarris D, Philippoussis A, Galiotou-Panayotou M, Komaitis M, Papanikolaou S (2009) Biotechnological conversions of bio-diesel-derived crude glycerol by Yarrowia lipolytica strains. Eng Life Sci 9:468–478
Arutchelvi J, Sudhakar M, Arkatkar A, Doble M, Bhaduri S, Uppara PV (2008) Biodegradation of polyethylene and polypropylene. Indian J Biotechnol:14
Beam HW, Perry JJ (1974) Microbial degradation and assimilation of n-alkyl-substituted cycloparaffins. J Bacteriol 118:394–399
Beopoulos A, Mrozova Z, Thevenieau F, Le Dall M-T, Hapala I, Papanikolaou S, Chardot T, Nicaud J-M (2008) Control of lipid accumulation in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Appl Environ Microbiol 74:7779–7789
Bialy HE, Gomaa OM, Azab KS (2011) Conversion of oil waste to valuable fatty acids using Oleaginous yeast. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 27:2791–2798
Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917
Dahlbo H, Poliakova V, Mylläri V, Sahimaa O, Anderson R (2018) Recycling potential of post-consumer plastic packaging waste in Finland. Waste Manag 71:52–61
Das N, Chandran P (2011) Microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants: an Overview. Biotechnol Res Int 2011:1–13
Fickers P, Benetti P-H, Waché Y, Marty A, Mauersberger S, Smit MS, Nicaud J-M (2005) Hydrophobic substrate utilisation by the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, and its potential applications. FEMS Yeast Res 5:527–543
Geyer R, Jambeck JR, Law KL (2017) Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci Adv 3:e1700782–e1700782
Guzik MW, Kenny ST, Duane GF, Casey E, Woods T, Babu RP, Nikodinovic-Runic J, Murray M, O’Connor KE (2014) Conversion of post consumer polyethylene to the biodegradable polymer polyhydroxyalkanoate. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98:4223–4232
Jeyakumar D, Chirsteen J, Doble M (2013) Synergistic effects of pretreatment and blending on fungi mediated biodegradation of polypropylenes. Bioresour Technol 148:78–85
Kenny ST, Runic JN, Kaminsky W, Woods T, Babu RP, Keely CM, Blau W, O’Connor KE (2008) Up-cycling of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) to the biodegradable plastic PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate). Environ Sci Technol 42:7696–7701
Kitcha S, Cheirsilp B (2011) Screening of oleaginous yeasts and optimization for lipid production using crude glycerol as a carbon source. Energy Procedia 9:274–282
Klug L, Daum G (2014) Yeast lipid metabolism at a glance. FEMS Yeast Res 14:369–388
Kuttiraja M, Douha A, Valéro JR, Tyagi RD (2016) Elucidating the effect of glycerol concentration and C/N ratio on lipid production using Yarrowia lipolytica SKY7. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 180:1586–1600
Longo C, Savaris M, Zeni M, Brandalise RN, Grisa AMC (2011) Degradation study of polypropylene (PP) and bioriented polypropylene (BOPP) in the environment. Mater Res 14:442–448
Makri A, Fakas S, Aggelis G (2010) Metabolic activities of biotechnological interest in Yarrowia lipolytica grown on glycerol in repeated batch cultures. Bioresour Technol 101:2351–2358
Mantia FPL (2004) Polymer mechanical recycling: downcycling or upcycling? Prog Rubber Plast Recycl 20:14
Mauersberger S, Ohkuma M, Schunck WH, Takagi M (1996) Candida maltosa. In: Nonconventional yeasts in biotechnology: a handbook. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, pp 411–580
Milanesio J, Hegel P, Medina-González Y, Camy S, Condoret J-S (2013) Extraction of lipids from Yarrowia lipolytica. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 88:378–387
Narancic T, O’Connor KE (2017) Microbial biotechnology addressing the plastic waste disaster. Microb Biotechnol 10:1232–1235
Papanikolaou S, Aggelis G (2011) Lipids of oleaginous yeasts. Part I: biochemistry of single cell oil production. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 113:1031–1051
Patel A, Matsakas L (2018) A comparative study on de novo and ex novo lipid fermentation by oleaginous yeast using glucose and sonicated waste cooking oil. Ultrason Sonochem 52:364–374
Prof Research Reports (2014) Polypropylene (PP) Industry 2009-2019 Global and Chinese Market Analysis. Prof Research Reports, Portland. https://www.profresearchreports.com/global-and-chinese-polypropylene-industry-2009-2019-market
Qiao K, Imam Abidi SH, Liu H, Zhang H, Chakraborty S, Watson N, Kumaran Ajikumar P, Stephanopoulos G (2015) Engineering lipid overproduction in the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Metab Eng 29:56–65
Rakicka M, Lazar Z, Dulermo T, Fickers P, Nicaud JM (2015) Lipid production by the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica using industrial by-products under different culture conditions. Biotechnol Biofuels 8:104–104
Research and Markets (2018) Global Polypropylene (PP) Market Report 2017: $100+ billion market size, demand forecasts, industry trends and updates 2016-2022. Report ID 4562477. Research and Markets, Dublin
Rostron KA, Lawrence CL (2017) Nile Red staining of neutral lipids in yeast histochemistry of single molecules. Methods Mol Biol. Humana Press, New York, pp 219–229
Ward PG, Goff M, Donner M, Kaminsky W, O’Connor KE (2006) A two step chemo-biotechnological conversion of polystyrene to a biodegradable thermoplastic. Environ Sci Technol 40:2433–2437
Wierckx N, Prieto MA, Pomposiello P, de Lorenzo V, O’Connor K, Blank LM (2015) Plastic waste as a novel substrate for industrial biotechnology. Microb Biotechnol 8:900–903
Xu P, Qiao K, Ahn WS, Stephanopoulos G (2016) Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica as a platform for synthesis of drop-in transportation fuels and oleochemicals. PNAS 113:10848–10853
Xue Z, Sharpe PL, Hong S-P, Yadav NS, Xie D, Short DR, Damude HG, Rupert RA, Seip JE, Wang J, Pollak DW, Bostick MW, Bosak MD, Macool DJ, Hollerbach DH, Zhang H, Arcilla DM, Bledsoe SA, Croker K, McCord EF, Tyreus BD, Jackson EN, Zhu Q (2013) Production of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid by metabolic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica. Nat Biotechnol 31:734–740
Zhang H, Zhang L, Chen H, Chen YQ, Chen W, Song Y, Ratledge C (2014) Enhanced lipid accumulation in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica by over-expression of ATP:citrate lyase from Mus musculus. J Biotechnol 192:78–84
Acknowledgments
We thank the Georgia Research Alliance for their support. We would also like to thank Dr. Kyle Gabriel and Dr. Kelly Cannon for their analytical chemistry expertise, as well as Dr. Sidney A. Crow, Jr. for supplying us with Y. lipolytica 78-003.
Funding
This work was supported by a Georgia Research Alliance Venture I grant.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Statement
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mihreteab, M., Stubblefield, B.A. & Gilbert, E.S. Microbial bioconversion of thermally depolymerized polypropylene by Yarrowia lipolytica for fatty acid production. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103, 7729–7740 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-09999-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-09999-2