title: Engineering a predatory bacterium as a proficient killer agent for intracellular bio-products recovery: The case of the polyhydroxyalkanoates.
abstract: This work examines the potential of the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100, an obligate predator of other Gram-negative bacteria, as an external cell-lytic agent for recovering valuable intracellular bio-products produced by prey cultures. The bio-product targets to be recovered were polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) produced naturally by Pseudomonas putida and Cupriavidus necator, or by recombinant Escherichia coli strains. B. bacteriovorus with a mutated PHA depolymerase gene to prevent the unwanted breakdown of the bio-product allowed the recovery of up to 80% of that accumulated by the prey bacteria, even at high biomass concentrations. This innovative downstream process highlights how B. bacteriovorus can be used as a novel, biological lytic agent for the inexpensive, industrial scale recovery of intracellular products from different Gram-negative prey cultures.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herencias
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Edouard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jurkevitch
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Department, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M Auxiliadora
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Prieto
mesh_terms: D000070060:Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006868:Hydrolysis; D056265:Microbial Interactions; D009154:Mutation; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases; C077226:poly(3-hydroxyalkanoic acid) depolymerase