Phytohemagglutinin (PHA), an abundant vacuolar seed protein of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), is a tetramer of two homologous polypeptides, PHA-E and PHA-L. The roots of bean seedlings release into the culture medium a cross-reacting lectin that is most closely related to PHA-E. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction with root mRNA as template was used to identify PHA transcript...

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100 is an obligate predator that invades and grows within the periplasm of Gram-negative bacteria, including mcl-polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) producers such as Pseudomonas putida. We investigated the impact of prey PHA content on the predator fitness and the potential advantages for preying on a PHA producer. Using a new procedure to control P. putida KT2442 cell size...

This paper indicates that activated sludge under certain conditions can achieve levels of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) accumulation which would enable the economic recovery of this precursor of biodegradable plastics. The effects of C/N ratio and temperature on polyhydroxyalkanoates production were evaluated. Acetate uptake, ammonium consumption, oxygen uptake and PHA production were studied und...

Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production serves as a substitute for petroleum-based plastics. Enriching mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) with the capacity to store PHA is a key precursor for low-cost PHA production. This study investigated the impact of carbon types on enrichment outcomes. Three MMCs were separately fed by acetate sodium, glucose, and starch as an enriching carbon source,...

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), produced by mixed microbial cultures (MMCs), is a biodegradable biopolyester that alleviates the global plastic crisis in nearest future. Even PHA has become research hotspot, reviews on composition determining thermodynamic and processing properties of products are rare. The primary focus evaluation relies factors affecting monomer MMC-PHA production. Besides, since...

Poly(hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA), which is produced from renewable carbon resources by many microorganisms, is an environmentally compatible polymeric material and can be processed into films and fibers. Biodegradation of PHA material occurs due to the action of extracellular PHA depolymerase secreted from microorganisms in various natural environments. A key step in determining the overall enzymat...

The binding of phytohemagglutinins from Phaseolus vulgaris (erythroagglutinating phytohemagglutinin (E-PHA) and leukoagglutinating phytohemagglutinin (L-PHA)) and from Lens culinaris (lentil-PHA) to human platelet cell surfaces has been demonstrated. Each platelet binds on an average 500,000 to 600,000 molecules of E-PHA with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.5 X 10m7 M. These values were ...

A number of Pseudomonas strains accumulated polyhdroxyalkanoate (PHA) from a variety of aromatic hydrocarbons. In many strains the level of PHA accumulation was dependent on the side chain length of the phenylalkanoic acid provided for growth. 4 of the 8 strains accumulated increased levels of PHA as the side chain length of the phenylalkanoic acid substrate increased. PHA accumulated from styr...

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are natural polyesters stored by a wide range of bacteria as carbon source reserve. Due to its chemical characteristics and biodegradability PHA can be used in chemical, medical and pharmaceutical industry for many human purposes. Over the past years, few Burkholderia species have become known for production of PHA. Aside from that, these bacteria seem to be interest...