{"id":178080,"date":"2026-07-03T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=178080"},"modified":"2026-06-29T12:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:03:20","slug":"ub-study-produces-a-biodegradable-bioplastic-with-a-low-environmental-impact-using-a-modified-bacterium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/ub-study-produces-a-biodegradable-bioplastic-with-a-low-environmental-impact-using-a-modified-bacterium\/","title":{"rendered":"UB study produces a biodegradable bioplastic with a low environmental impact using a modified bacterium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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Every year, hundreds of millions of tonnes of petrochemical-based plastics are produced, much of which ends up in the environment or is incinerated. This exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental crisis caused by plastic pollution. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona has produced a biodegradable bioplastic of high industrial value \u2014 polyhydroxybutyrate or PHB \u2014 from unprocessed potato starch in a single 24-hour step, a strategic breakthrough that could help reduce dependence on oil and the volume of persistent plastic waste.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study thus establishes that the bacterium Bacillus subtilis<\/em> is a robust platform of great industrial interest for producing PHB \u2014 a biodegradable biopolymer derived from renewable sources \u2014 from potato starch, an abundant and low-cost agricultural by-product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper, published in the journal Bioresource Technology<\/a><\/em>, is led by Pere Picart, a professor at the UB\u2019s Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, with significant contributions from Mercedes Berlanga, from the same faculty and the UB\u2019s Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biodegradable bioplastics made from renewable resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this study, the team worked with the bacterium Bacillus subtilis<\/em>, a safe microorganism widely used in industrial biotechnology to produce enzymes and chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCommercial production of PHB requires microbial hosts that are non-pathogenic, genetically tractable, fast-growing, metabolically robust and capable of utilising a variety of carbon sources,\u201d the authors <\/strong>explain.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Until now, the potential of Bacillus subtilis<\/em> to produce polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) had remained largely unexplored, and systematic metabolic engineering strategies to enable high accumulation of this polymer in the bacterium were still lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic engineering techniques, the team has redesigned the metabolism of\u00a0B. subtilis<\/em>\u00a0to enhance biopolymer production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPrevious studies showed that the bacterium\u2019s capacity to produce PHB was limited, with accumulations below 13% of dry cell weight,\u201d the team<\/strong> notes. \u201cThese low yields required further optimization of pathway expression and polymer granule formation to fully exploit\u00a0B. subtilis<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Genetic modification of the bacterium \u2018Bacillus subtilis\u2019 opens up a route of great industrial interest for producing a sustainable and cost-effective plastic \u2014 PHB \u2014 from potato starch in a single step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genetic engineering to increase PHB production<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The team has genetically modified B. subtilis <\/em>to create a safe, Gram-positive microbial platform for the efficient and sustainable production of PHB from unprocessed starch. Genomic integration and constitutive expression of phaA<\/em>, combined with controlled expression of the phaRBC <\/em>operon, has enabled efficient polymer accumulation from multiple carbon sources. Furthermore, the incorporation of the amyQ<\/em> gene, which encodes an \u03b1-amylase, facilitated the direct conversion of unprocessed potato starch into PHB in a single-step process over 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using this combination, 11.3 g\/L of biomass and 5.8 g\/L of PHB were obtained in flask-scale cultures, with a polymer purity comparable to commercial standards, reaching 51.8% PHB of dry cell weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More sustainable and cost-effective bioplastics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unlike conventional petroleum-based plastics, PHB is a renewable biopolymer that helps to partially close the carbon cycle and minimize the accumulation of persistent waste in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Various environmental analyses and life-cycle studies indicate that bio-based bioplastics, such as PHB, can have a lower carbon footprint and a reduced climate impact compared to many petrochemical plastics, particularly when waste-derived raw materials are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTechnologies such as this represent a real opportunity to turn an environmental problem into a valuable resource, contributing to a more circular and decarbonized economy,\u201d concludes the research team.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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References <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shahayeva, M.; Ferrando, J.; Navarro, J.; Berlanga, M.; Picart, P. (2026). \u00abOne-step polyhydroxybutyrate production from potato starch by engineered Bacillus subtilis<\/em>\u00bb<\/a>. Bioresource Technology<\/em>, May 2026. DOI: 10.1016\/j.biortech.2026.134933.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year, hundreds of millions of tonnes of petrochemical-based plastics are produced, much of which ends up in the environment or is incinerated. This exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental crisis caused by plastic pollution. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona has produced a biodegradable bioplastic of high industrial value \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":178096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Genetic modification of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis opens up a route of great industrial interest for producing a sustainable and cost-effective plastic \u2014 PHB \u2014 from potato starch in a single step","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[13383,11270,5847,6026,5796,27751,16057],"supplier":[4279],"class_list":["post-178080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bacteria","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioplastics","tag-biopolymers","tag-biotechnology","tag-byproducts","tag-phb","supplier-universitat-de-barcelona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178080"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178122,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178080\/revisions\/178122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178080"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=178080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}