Rhizobium meliloti produced a copolymer of short chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (scl-PHA) on sucrose and rice bran oil as carbon substrates. Recombinant Escherichia coli (JC7623ABC1J4), bearing PHA synthesis genes, was used to synthesize short chain length-co-medium chain length PHA (scl-co-mcl-PHA) on glucose and decanoic acid. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of the PHAs indicated strong characteristic bands at 1282, 1723, and 2934 cm -1 for scl-PHA and at 2933 and 2976 cm -1 for scl-co-mcl-PHA polymer. Differentiation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate-P(HB-co-HV) copolymer was obseverd using FTIR, with absorption bands at 1723 and 1281 for PHB, and at 1738, 1134, 1215 cm -1 for HV-copolymer. The copolymers were analyzed by GC and 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Films of polymer blends of PHA produced by R. meliloti and recombinant E. coli were prepared using glycerol, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl acetate, individually (1:1 ratio), to modify the mechanical properties of the fi lms and these fi lms were evaluated by FTIR and scanning electron microscopy.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which is produced by several bacteria, is a biodegradable polymer that has many industrial and medical applications. This study deals with development of a simple kinetic model and modification of the logistic equation that can provide an adequate description of PHA formation process by Bacillus flexus. The parameters studied were kinetics of microbial growth, substrate consumption, and product formation. The microbial growth was described by simplification of Monod's model. A simplified Luedeking-Piret type model could be employed to represent the product kinetics. The kinetic constants were evaluated on the basis of non-linear regression and the differential equations were solved using Runge-Kutta algorithm and MATLAB software. A good agreement was found between the experimental and predicted values, which indicated that the model differential equations could describe the PHA formation and fermentation process. In this study, a modification of the logistic equation has also been attempted for describing the growth of B. flexus.
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