In vivo and in vitro depolymerizations of intracellular medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates produced by Pseudomonas putida Bet001

In vivo and in vitro depolymerizations of intracellular medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA) in Pseudomonas putida Bet001 grown on lauric acid was studied. Both processes were studied under optimum conditions for mcl-PHA depolymerization viz. 0.2 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 9, ionic strength (I) = 0.2 M at 30°C. For in vitro depolymerization studies, cell-free system was obtained from lysing bacterial cells suspension by ultrasonication at optimum conditions (frequency 37 kHz, 30% of power output, <25°C for 120 min). The comparison between in vivo and in vitro depolymerizations of intracellular mcl-PHA was made. In vitro depolymerization showed lower depolymerization rate but higher yield compared to in vivo depolymerization. The monomer liberation rate reflected the mol% distribution of the initial polymer subunit composition, and the resulting direct individual products of depolymerization were identical for both in vivo and in vitro processes. It points to exo-type reaction for both processes, and potential biological route to chiral molecules.