Projectes de l'ICRA

Bio-based polymers are increasingly popular as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based polymers. Although methanotrophs provide a good theoretical platform for methane-based biopolymers, the production of biopolymers using methane is still in its infancy. Several studies have investigated polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production by methanotrophs but the limitations that affect the PHA production costs are the PHA intracellular content and the extraction of intracellular PHA. An alternative to intracellular biopolymers is the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) due to their ability to form polymer networks or hydrogels. However, EPS production by methanotrophs has not been investigated in depth. Knowledge on the stress conditions triggering EPS production in methanotrophs is still lacking and the structure and properties of the EPS produced from methane have not been unravelled.
The main goal of the CH4-BIOPOL is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing EPS from methane by methanotrophs. Control and optimization of EPS bioproduction, understanding the pathways involved, and resolving its physicochemical characterization will be the main targets of this project.