Transcriptome analysis of Pseudomonas sp. LFM046 using fructose and glucose for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates - PHAs

• Grant number: 23/11771-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: April 25, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Cardinali Rezende
• Grantee: Caroline Sayuri Yamada
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The extensive use of petroleum-derived plastics has grown in recent years, demonstrating theneed for alternatives to these materials. Among the possibilities, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)are interesting candidates since they are biodegradable and biocompatible biopolymers producedfrom renewable raw materials. Its characteristics may vary according to the bacterial species(PhaC synthase enzyme affinity), the carbon source and the metabolic pathways used in thesynthesis process. The classification of the polymer depends on the number of carbons present inthe monomer units. Medium-chain PHAs (mcl-PHAs) are mainly produced by the Pseudomonasgenus of bacteria, whereas Pseudomonas sp. LFM046 proved to be an excellent producer of thisbiopolymer, with an output percentage equivalent to 60%-70% in relation to the theoreticalvalue. Therefore, this project aims to analyze the transcriptome of Pseudomonas sp. LFM046using fructose and glucose as substrates for the production of mcl-PHAs, in order to know whichmetabolic pathways are involved and how the production of this biopolymer can be optimized.Furthermore, the data obtained in this project will be used for the optimization of the in silicometabolic network that was built for this strain.