Author(s)

Jeremy Javers, Chinnadurai Karunanithy

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA.
Biology and Microbiology Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA.

Pseudomonas putida KT217 was grown on a complex medium comprised of co-products of the ethanol and biodiesel industries to assess the organism's capability to produce medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA). The growth phase was carried out in a medium containing 400 g/L condensed corn solubles (CCS), supplemented with ammonium hydroxide as a nitrogen source. Following the exponential phase, co-products of the biodiesel industry (soapstock and glycerin) were fed into the reactor to trigger PHA production. When glycerin was added to the bioreactor (75 g/L total addition), the final cell dry weight (CDW) and PHA content were 30 g/L and 31%, respectively. The monomeric composition in the PHA formed was relatively uniform throughout incubation with 3-hydroxydecanoate dominating. When a total of 153 g/L of sunflower soapstock was added to the bioreactor in a fed-batch manner, the final CDW and PHA content were 17 g/L and 17%, respectively. Following addition of soapstock the monomeric composition of the polymer changed dramatically, with the 3-hydroxyoctanoate monomer becoming dominant and greater unsaturation present in the PHA.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate; Pseudomonas putida; Condensed Corn Solubles; Glycerol; Soapstock

Javers, J. and Karunanithy, C. (2012) Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production by Pseudomonas putida KT217 on a Condensed Corn Solubles Based Medium Fed with Glycerol Water or Sunflower Soapstock. Advances in Microbiology, 2, 241-251. doi: 10.4236/aim.2012.23029.