Metabolix Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2013 Feb;11(2):233-52. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12039. Epub 2013 Jan 7.
Large scale production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) in plants can provide a sustainable supply of bioplastics, biochemicals, and energy from sunlight and atmospheric CO(2). PHAs are a class of polymers with various chain lengths that are naturally produced by some microorganisms as storage materials. The properties of these polyesters make them functionally equivalent to many of the petroleum-based plastics that are currently in the market place. However, unlike most petroleum-derived plastics, PHAs can be produced from renewable feedstocks and easily degrade in most biologically active environments. This review highlights research efforts over the last 20 years to engineer the production of PHAs in plants with a focus on polyhydroxybutryrate (PHB) production in bioenergy crops with C(4) photosynthesis. PHB has the potential to be a high volume commercial product with uses not only in the plastics and materials markets, but also in renewable chemicals and feed. The major challenges of improving product yield and plant fitness in high biomass yielding C(4) crops are discussed in detail.
大规模生产聚羟基烷酸酯（PHAs）可以为生物塑料、生物化学物质和能源提供可持续的供应，这些可以利用阳光和大气中的 CO₂来实现。PHAs 是一类具有不同链长的聚合物，天然由一些微生物作为储存材料生产。这些聚酯的性质使它们在功能上等同于目前市场上的许多石油基塑料。然而，与大多数石油衍生塑料不同，PHAs 可以由可再生原料生产，并且在大多数具有生物活性的环境中容易降解。本综述重点介绍了过去 20 年来在植物中生产 PHAs 的研究进展，重点是在具有 C₄光合作用的生物能源作物中生产聚羟基丁酸酯（PHB）。PHB 具有成为高容量商业产品的潜力，不仅可用于塑料和材料市场，还可用于可再生化学品和饲料。详细讨论了提高高生物质产量的 C₄作物中产品产量和植物适应性的主要挑战。
