POLY (3-HYDROXYBUTYRATE) SYNTHESIS IN Azotobacter: CLONING AND MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF THE Azotobacter SP. FA8 PHB GENES.

M.Julia Pettinari1 Gustavo Vazquez1, Bernd H.A. Rehm2, Alexander Steinbüchel2 and Beatriz S. Mendez1.

1Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2 Institut für Mikrobiologie, Westfälische Wilhems-Universität Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany.


Abstract

Genes responsible for the synthesis of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in Azotobacter sp. FA8 were cloned, sequenced and molecularly analyzed. A PHB synthase (phbC) mutant was obtained by gene inactivation and used for genetic studies.

The polymers produced by recombinants of Azotobacter sp. FA8 containing the genes coding for medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) synthases were analysed. The phbC gene from this strain was introduced in Ralstonia eutropha PHB-4 (phbC minus mutant) and the polymer produced from different carbon sources was analysed.