PRODUCTION OF POLY (BETA-HYDROXYBUTYRATE) BY Bacillus megaterium BBST4 USING DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES AS CARBON SOURCES

MAURICIO A. PORRAS; MARÍA AMELIA CUBITTO; MARCELO A.VILLAR

Rosario

Congreso; Segunda Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas; 2012

Universidad Nacional de Rosario-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

The polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are natural and biodegradable polyesters synthesized and accumulated as intracellular granules by different bacterial genera in unbalanced growth conditions. The most common PHA is the poly (beta-hydroxybutyrate), PHB. Many synthetic polymers are being used now-a-days in drug delivery systems. But synthetic polymers have certain disadvantages such as their non-biodegradability and so probability of bioaccumulation (1). One of the limiting factors for PHA production is the cost of raw materials, especially sugars like glucose. Therefore many studies are designed to optimize production with low cost substrates. Another problem is when gram-negative bacteria are employed to produced PHB, endotoxin (pyrogen) from the outer cell wall must be removed causing an increase of production costs. The objectives of this study were to analyze comparatively the efficiency of PHA production by a Bacillus megaterium BBST4 strain using starch, glycerol and sugar cane molasses as carbon sources.