title: Production and use of deuterated polyhydroxyoctanoate in structural studies of PHO inclusions.
abstract: This work reports on the biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates with medium chain length alkyl substituents in the side chain by Pseudomonas oleovorans using hydrogenated and deuterated substrates. These investigations aimed to obtain polyhydroxyalkanoates with varying degrees of deuterium substitution, and establish whether they are suitable analogues for structural investigation. In order to understand the formation and structure of inclusions in their native state, whole inclusions were isolated from microbial cells and were analysed using Small Angle Neutron Scattering. A contrast variation study was conducted on hydrogenated and deuterated inclusions of polyhydroxyoctanoate, as well as inclusions resulting from co-feeding or sequentially feeding different precursors. The data indicated a core/shell structure resulting from feeding hydrogenated followed by perdeuterated PHO precursor, and demonstrated the utility of this analysis for characterising chemically similar systems.
authors.affiliation: ANSTO Institute for Environmental Research, PMB 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia. robert.russell@ansto.gov.au
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Holden
authors.forename: Karyn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wilde
authors.forename: Kerie M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Hammerton
authors.forename: L John R
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Foster
mesh_terms: D002210:Caprylates / Q000378:metabolism; D003903:Deuterium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D044204:Pseudomonas oleovorans / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002210:Caprylates; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D003903:Deuterium; C031492:octanoic acid