Industrial interest in microbial polymers has been stimulated by their unique properties and the opportunity to develop new materials, which can be used for specific applications in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Such is the case of extracellular polymers of biotechnological importance, such as xanthan, alginate, and poly-glutamic acid (PGA), which can be used in the food industry, as well as in the biomedical and pharmaceutical areas. The biomedical applications include encapsulation and drug delivery, scaffolds for tissue engineering, biosensors, wound healing, and hemorrhage control agents. On another hand, intracellular polymers, such as the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) family, are biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastics, which can be processed to create a wide variety of consumer products, including plastics, films, and scaffolds used in tissue engineering.
The aim of this research is to offer a broad overview of the microbial polymer production of commercial interest, from an approach based on the design of new producing strains, the factors that mainly determine their production, as well as recovery issues and the scaling of the process. Additionally, this research seeks to incorporate novel studies that address the design of new strategies for the production and downstream processing of biopolymers, as well as their commercial applications.
1) Production of microbial polymers,
2) Molecular regulation of the synthesis of biopolymers,
3) Influence of fermentation parameters on the production and composition of microbial polymers,
4) Scaling-up of microbial polymer production and downstream processing,
5) Novel fermentation strategies.
Industrial interest in microbial polymers has been stimulated by their unique properties and the opportunity to develop new materials, which can be used for specific applications in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Such is the case of extracellular polymers of biotechnological importance, such as xanthan, alginate, and poly-glutamic acid (PGA), which can be used in the food industry, as well as in the biomedical and pharmaceutical areas. The biomedical applications include encapsulation and drug delivery, scaffolds for tissue engineering, biosensors, wound healing, and hemorrhage control agents. On another hand, intracellular polymers, such as the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) family, are biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastics, which can be processed to create a wide variety of consumer products, including plastics, films, and scaffolds used in tissue engineering.
The aim of this research is to offer a broad overview of the microbial polymer production of commercial interest, from an approach based on the design of new producing strains, the factors that mainly determine their production, as well as recovery issues and the scaling of the process. Additionally, this research seeks to incorporate novel studies that address the design of new strategies for the production and downstream processing of biopolymers, as well as their commercial applications.
1) Production of microbial polymers,
2) Molecular regulation of the synthesis of biopolymers,
3) Influence of fermentation parameters on the production and composition of microbial polymers,
4) Scaling-up of microbial polymer production and downstream processing,
5) Novel fermentation strategies.
