ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

A.S. Yadav and Sandeep Kumar
1Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University -125 004, India.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2013;7(2):1401-1407
© The Author(s). 2013
Received: 14/04/2013 | Accepted: 13/05/2013 | Published: 30/06/2013
Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of hydroxyalkanoates (HAs) synthesized by numerous bacteria as intracellular carbon and energy storage compounds. Poly-b-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is the most common natural microbial PHA. PHBs, the eco-friendly biopolymers, are gaining importance in curtailing the environmental pollution by replacing the non-biodegradable plastics derived from petroleum. PHBs have sought attention as these possess properties close to polypropylene and have been considered for various agricultural, industrial and medical applications. A large number of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms such as rhizobia, Azotobacter, Azospirrillum, Pseudomonas, etc. are known to produce sufficient amounts of PHB, utilizing varied substances as carbon sources. Synthesis and accumulation of PHB in different nitrogen fixing organisms is found to vary between 1- 84 % of their cell dry biomass. PHB has been implicated as an energy source in the symbiotic nitrogen fixation and is important in maintaining respiratory activities that protect nitrogenase from damage by oxygen and in extending nitrogen fixation to the pod-filling stage.

Keywords

Poly-b-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), nitrogen-fixing bacteria, biodegradable plastics, eco-friendly

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