title: Bioplastics from microorganisms.
abstract: The term 'biomaterials' includes chemically unrelated products that are synthesised by microorganisms (or part of them) under different environmental conditions. One important family of biomaterials is bioplastics. These are polyesters that are widely distributed in nature and accumulate intracellularly in microorganisms in the form of storage granules, with physico-chemical properties resembling petrochemical plastics. These polymers are usually built from hydroxy-acyl-CoA derivatives via different metabolic pathways. Depending on their microbial origin, bioplastics differ in their monomer composition, macromolecular structure and physical properties. Most of them are biodegradable and biocompatible, which makes them extremely interesting from the biotechnological point of view.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultades de Biología y de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24007 León, Spain. dbbjlr@unileon.es
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Luengo
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandoval
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Naharro
authors.forename: Elías R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Olivera
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000639:trends; D007218:Industrial Microbiology / Q000639:trends*; D010969:Plastics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics