Production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) with high molar fractions of 3-hydroxyvalerate by a threonine-overproducing mutant of Alcaligenes sp. SH-69

A threonine overproducing mutant of Alcaligenes sp. SH-69 was isolated and its ability to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), poly(3HB-co-3HV), was investigated. The 3HV fraction in poly(3HB-co-3HV) produced from glucose as the sole carbon source exceeded 22 mol%, which is approximately six times higher than that achieved by the wild type under the same culture conditions. Furthermore, the addition of a relatively low concentration (10 mM) of propionic acid, valeric acid or levulinic acid to the glucose medium greatly increased the molar fraction of 3HV in the copolyester, to 38–77 mol%. The results suggest that metabolic engineering of the biosynthetic pathways supplying polyhydroxyalkanoate monomers, such as the threonine biosynthetic pathway, can lead to new poly(3HB-co-3HV)-producing strains.