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Recovery and purification of intracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates from recombinant Cupriavidus necator using water and ethanol

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Abstract

A new halogen-free and environmental-friendly method using water and ethanol is developed as an alternative for the recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from recombinant Cupriavidus necator in comparison to the established chloroform extraction method. After optimisation, our results showed that the halogen-free method produced a PHA with 81% purity and 96% recovery yield, in comparison to the chloroform extraction system which resulted in a highly pure PHA with 95% yield. Although the purity of the PHA using the new method is lower, the molecular weight of the extracted PHA is not compromised. This new method can be further developed as an alternative and more environmental-friendly method for industrial application.

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Acknowledgments

The financial and technical support received from the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia and Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are extremely grateful to Dr. Sudesh of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr. Mei Ling Chong of Technology Park Malaysia, Dr. Tabassum Mumtaz and Ms. Lian Ngit Yee of Universiti Putra Malaysia for their generous support during the experiments.

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Correspondence to Mohd Ali Hassan.

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Mohammadi, M., Hassan, M.A., Phang, LY. et al. Recovery and purification of intracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates from recombinant Cupriavidus necator using water and ethanol. Biotechnol Lett 34, 253–259 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0783-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0783-5

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