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Development of a novel solid-state fermentation strategy for the production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate using polyurethane foams by Bacillus sphaericus NII 0838

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Abstract

The extensive use of synthetic plastics has caused serious waste disposal problems in our environment. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHB) are eco-friendly bacterial polyesters which are produced under unbalanced nutrient conditions. Few reports are available on PHB production by solid state fermentation (SSF). We have developed a novel SSF bioprocess in which polyurethane foam (PUF) is used as a physical inert support for the production of PHB by Bacillus sphaericus NII 0838. Media engineering for optimal PHB production was carried out using response surface methodology (RSM) adopting a Box–Behnken design. The factors optimized by RSM were inoculum size, pH and (NH4)2SO4 concentration. Under optimized conditions—6.5 % inoculum size, 1.7 % (w/v) (NH4)2SO4 and pH 9.0—PHB production and biomass were 0.169 ± 0.03 and 0.4 ± 0.002 g/g PUF, respectively. This is the first report on PHB production by SSF using PUF as an inert support. Our results demonstrate that SSF can be used as an alternative strategy for the production of PHB.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors (NVR) gratefully acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, for the award of Senior Research Fellowship during this course of investigation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, Kerala, India

    Nisha V. Ramadas, Raveendran Sindhu, Parameswaran Binod & Ashok Pandey

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  1. Nisha V. Ramadas
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  2. Raveendran Sindhu
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  3. Parameswaran Binod
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  4. Ashok Pandey
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Correspondence to Ashok Pandey.

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Ramadas, N.V., Sindhu, R., Binod, P. et al. Development of a novel solid-state fermentation strategy for the production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate using polyurethane foams by Bacillus sphaericus NII 0838. Ann Microbiol 63, 1265–1274 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-012-0584-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-012-0584-7

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