Characterization of polyhydroxybutyrate production from Halomonas titanicae KHS3 and manufacturing of electrosprayed nanoparticles

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biopolymers accumulated by a diversity of bacterial strains as carbon and energy reserve when grown under unbalanced nutritional conditions. Among the wide spectrum of applications for these biopolymers, the generation of nano and microparticles has drawn huge attention. PHA nanoparticles showed a high surface-to-volume ratio that makes them interesting for pharmaceutical uses. Bacteria from the Halomonas genus became interesting tools for biopolymer production in the last years, due to its metabolic plasticity that allows them to grow in a wide spectrum of compounds and salt concentrations. Halomonas titanicae KHS3 was previously isolated based on their ability to grow using aromatic hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source. In this work, the novelty lies in the evaluation of PHA accumulation by H. titanicae KHS3. Accumulation was successfully observed and thoroughly characterized on various carbon sources. Irrespective of the carbon source employed for growth, our experimental conditions consistently yielded PHB as the sole material identified. The truly intriguing aspect of this study is that PHB solutions in glacial acetic acid demonstrated exceptional suitability for electrospraying processing. This groundbreaking development led to the creation of nanoparticles with unique characteristics that hold immense promise for a wide range of applications.