Production and Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoate from Lignin Derivatives by Pandoraea sp. ISTKB

The present study investigates polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from lignin and its derivatives by a previously reported lignin-degrading bacterial strain Pandoraea sp. ISTKB. PHA production was screened by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry using a Nile red stain. PHA and biomass accumulation, while screening, was found to be maximum on 4-hydroxybenzoic acid followed by p-coumaric acid, vanillic acid, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, and kraft lignin after 96 h. Monomer composition was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and was followed by Fourier transform infrared and 1H NMR analysis, indicating PHA to be a copolymer of P­(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate). Genomic analysis of Pandoraea sp. ISTKB also complemented the results of GC–MS and NMR, and the relevant genes responsible for the synthesis of small chain length PHA were discovered in the genome. Process parameters were optimized by response surface methodology for enhanced production of PHA and biomass on 4-hydroxybenzoate. Optimization results showed 30 and 66% increase in the biomass and PHA production, respectively. The results obtained were promising and indicated that if lignin is depolymerized into low-molecular-weight intermediates, then it can easily be utilized and converted into value-added products like PHA by microbes.