Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Division, Department of Agrochemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n-03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, 03690 Alicante, Spain.
Centro Tecnológico del Calzado y del Plástico de la Región de Murcia, Av. Europa 4-5, 30840 Alhama de Murcia, Spain.
Mar Drugs. 2021 Mar 18;19(3):159. doi: 10.3390/md19030159.
Plastic pollution is a worldwide concern causing the death of animals (mainly aquatic fauna) and environmental deterioration. Plastic recycling is, in most cases, difficult or even impossible. For this reason, new research lines are emerging to identify highly biodegradable bioplastics or plastic formulations that are more environmentally friendly than current ones. In this context, microbes, capable of synthesizing bioplastics, were revealed to be good models to design strategies in which microorganisms can be used as cell factories. Recently, special interest has been paid to haloarchaea due to the capability of some species to produce significant concentrations of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV) when growing under a specific nutritional status. The growth of those microorganisms at the pilot or industrial scale offers several advantages compared to that of other microbes that are bioplastic producers. This review summarizes the state of the art of bioplastic production and the most recent findings regarding the production of bioplastics by halophilic microorganisms with special emphasis on haloarchaea. Some protocols to produce/analyze bioplastics are highlighted here to shed light on the potential use of haloarchaea at the industrial scale to produce valuable products, thus minimizing environmental pollution by plastics made from petroleum.
塑料污染是一个全球性的问题，导致了动物（主要是水生动物）的死亡和环境恶化。在大多数情况下，塑料回收是困难的，甚至是不可能的。出于这个原因，新的研究路线正在出现，以确定具有高度生物降解性的生物塑料或比目前更环保的塑料配方。在这种情况下，能够合成生物塑料的微生物被证明是设计策略的良好模型，在这些策略中可以将微生物用作细胞工厂。最近，由于一些物种在特定营养状态下生长时能够产生大量聚羟基烷酸（PHA）、聚羟基丁酸酯（PHB）和聚羟基戊酸酯（PHV），嗜盐古菌受到了特别关注。与其他生产生物塑料的微生物相比，这些微生物在中试或工业规模上的生长有几个优势。本文综述了生物塑料生产的最新进展，以及嗜盐微生物生产生物塑料的最新发现，特别强调了嗜盐古菌。这里强调了一些生产/分析生物塑料的方案，以阐明在工业规模上利用嗜盐古菌生产有价值产品的潜力，从而最大限度地减少由石油制成的塑料对环境的污染。
