A new biological recovery approach for PHA using mealworm, Tenebrio molitor
(2016) In Journal of Biotechnology 239. p.98-105- Abstract
Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are expensive partly due to the recovery and purification processes. Thus, many studies have been carried out in order to minimize the cost. Here we report on the use of mealworm, which is the larva of mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) to recover PHA granules from Cupriavidus necator. Mealworms were shown to readily consume the freeze-dried C. necator cells and excrete the PHA granules in the form of whitish feces. Further purification using water, detergent and heat resulted in almost 100% pure PHA granules. Comparison with chloroform extraction showed no signs of reduction in the molecular weight and dispersion of the PHA molecules. Scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering... (More)
Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are expensive partly due to the recovery and purification processes. Thus, many studies have been carried out in order to minimize the cost. Here we report on the use of mealworm, which is the larva of mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) to recover PHA granules from Cupriavidus necator. Mealworms were shown to readily consume the freeze-dried C. necator cells and excrete the PHA granules in the form of whitish feces. Further purification using water, detergent and heat resulted in almost 100% pure PHA granules. Comparison with chloroform extraction showed no signs of reduction in the molecular weight and dispersion of the PHA molecules. Scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements revealed that the biologically recovered PHA granules retained their native spherical morphology. The PHA granules were subjected to a battery of tests to determine their purity and properties in comparison to the chloroform extracted PHA. This study has demonstrated the possibility of using mealworms as a biological agent to partially purify the PHA granules.
(Less)
- author
- Murugan, Paramasivam ; Han, Lizhu ; Gan, Chee Yuen ; Maurer, Frans H J LU and Sudesh, Kumar
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016-12-10
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Biological recovery, Cupriavidus necator, Mealworm, Polyhydroxyalkanoates
- in
- Journal of Biotechnology
- volume
- 239
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:27746304
- wos:000388153000016
- scopus:84992021217
- ISSN
- 0168-1656
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.10.012
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 74a70475-8ca4-45d6-9730-cb97adf41d8b
- date added to LUP
- 2016-11-04 08:59:05
- date last changed
- 2025-03-24 00:48:33
@article{74a70475-8ca4-45d6-9730-cb97adf41d8b,
abstract = {{<p>Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are expensive partly due to the recovery and purification processes. Thus, many studies have been carried out in order to minimize the cost. Here we report on the use of mealworm, which is the larva of mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) to recover PHA granules from Cupriavidus necator. Mealworms were shown to readily consume the freeze-dried C. necator cells and excrete the PHA granules in the form of whitish feces. Further purification using water, detergent and heat resulted in almost 100% pure PHA granules. Comparison with chloroform extraction showed no signs of reduction in the molecular weight and dispersion of the PHA molecules. Scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements revealed that the biologically recovered PHA granules retained their native spherical morphology. The PHA granules were subjected to a battery of tests to determine their purity and properties in comparison to the chloroform extracted PHA. This study has demonstrated the possibility of using mealworms as a biological agent to partially purify the PHA granules.</p>}},
author = {{Murugan, Paramasivam and Han, Lizhu and Gan, Chee Yuen and Maurer, Frans H J and Sudesh, Kumar}},
issn = {{0168-1656}},
keywords = {{Biological recovery; Cupriavidus necator; Mealworm; Polyhydroxyalkanoates}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
pages = {{98--105}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Journal of Biotechnology}},
title = {{A new biological recovery approach for PHA using mealworm, Tenebrio molitor}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.10.012}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.10.012}},
volume = {{239}},
year = {{2016}},
}