Characteristics of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) Production by Ralstonia eutropha NCIMB 11599 and ATCC 17699

Ralstonia eutropha NCIMB 11599 and ATCC 17699 were grown, and their productions of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)] compared. In flask cultures of R. eutropha NCIMB 11599, cell concentration, P(3HB-co-4HB) concentration and polymer content decreased considerably with increases in the ${\gamma}-butyrolactone$ concentration, and the 4HB fraction was also very low (maximum 1.74 mol%). In fed-batch cultures of R. eutropha NCIMB 11599, glucose and ${\gamma}-butyrolactone$ were fed as the carbon sources, under a phosphate limitation strategy. When glucose was fed as the sole carbon source, with its concentration controlled using an on-line glucose analyzer, 86% of the P(3HB) homopolymer was obtained from 201g/L of cells. In a two-stage fed-batch culture, where the cell concentration was increased to 104g/L, with glucose fed in the first step and constant feeding of ${\gamma}-butyrolactone$, at 6g/h, in the second, final cell concentration at 67h was 106g/L, with a polymer content of 82%, while the 4HB fraction was only 0.7mol%. When the same feeding strategy was applied to the fedbatch culture of R. eutropha ATCC 17699, where the cell concentration was increased to 42 g/L, by feeding fructose in the first step and ${\gamma}-butyrolactone$ (1.5g/h) in the second, the final cell concentration, polymer content and 4HB fraction at 74h were 51g/L, 35% and 32 mol%, respectively. In summary, R. eutropha ATCC 17699 was better than R. eutropha NCIMB 11599 in terms of P(3HB-co-4HB) production with various 4HB fractions.