{"id":47297,"date":"2017-11-10T06:55:58","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T05:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rss.nova-institut.net\/public.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biofuelsdigest.com%2Fbdigest%2F2017%2F10%2F28%2Fsuper-cyanobacteria-and-its-sidekick-power-duo-produces-bioplastic-faster-and-cheaper-than-ever-before%2F"},"modified":"2017-11-02T12:16:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T11:16:00","slug":"better-together-a-bacteria-community-creates-biodegradable-plastic-with-sunlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/better-together-a-bacteria-community-creates-biodegradable-plastic-with-sunlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Better together: a bacteria community creates biodegradable plastic with sunlight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The IV container that saves a life ends up on a\u00a0landfill. Or that milk jug from the store ends up floating gently down a stream,\u00a0with dozens others.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"BorlabsCookie _brlbs-cb-youtube\"><div class=\"_brlbs-content-blocker\"> <div class=\"_brlbs-embed _brlbs-video-youtube\"> <img class=\"_brlbs-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/borlabs-cookie\/assets\/images\/cb-no-thumbnail.png\" alt=\"YouTube\"> <div class=\"_brlbs-caption\"> <p>By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy?hl=en&amp;gl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Learn more<\/a><\/p> <p><a class=\"_brlbs-btn _brlbs-icon-play-white\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-unblock role=\"button\">Load video<\/a><\/p> <p><label><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"unblockAll\" value=\"1\" checked> <small>Always unblock YouTube<\/small><\/label><\/p> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><div class=\"borlabs-hide\" data-borlabs-cookie-type=\"content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-id=\"youtube\"><script type=\"text\/template\">PHA+PGlmcmFtZSBsb2FkaW5nPSJsYXp5IiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUtbm9jb29raWUuY29tL2VtYmVkL0ZpbW5sVFgtMTlzIiB3aWR0aD0iNDUwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjI1MyIgZnJhbWVib3JkZXI9IjAiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj0iYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuIj48L2lmcmFtZT4=<\/script><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nFor all their convenience, plastics are massive environmental headaches.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe main problem is that most synthetic plastic is not completely biodegradable. It cannot be broken down by living organisms, which is why it lasts for hundreds of years after being discarded,\u201d says Taylor Weiss, a former post-doc in the Ducat lab.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists are trying to synthesize environmentally-friendly plastic alternatives,\u00a0using\u00a0\u00a0bacteria.<\/p>\n<p>And it exists: 100% biologically-derived.\u00a0100% biodegradable.<\/p>\n<p>But it is\u00a0too expensive to mass market.<\/p>\n<p>Now, in a study, published in the journal Metabolic Engineering, Taylor and the Ducat lab propose a new production method, powered by sunlight and an ancient microorganism, that\u00a0could significantly cut costs.<\/p>\n<h3>Cyanos: micro powerhouses<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47310\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47310\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-47310\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cyanobacteria-lake-erie-xs3-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Cyanobacteria are abundant on Earth and can thrive in many areas which are hostile to plants, like this bloom on Lake Erie. By NASA\/Public Domain. \" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/cyanobacteria-lake-erie-xs3-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/cyanobacteria-lake-erie-xs3.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47310\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cyanobacteria are abundant on Earth and can thrive in many areas which are hostile to plants, like this bloom on Lake Erie.<br \/>By NASA\/Public Domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPresent bioplastic production relies on feeding plastic-producing bacteria with large quantities of sugars\u00a0from crops, like corn or sugarcane,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cBut these crops also feed people and animals, so we risk competing for limited agricultural resources and driving food prices up in the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A promising alternative is working with\u00a0\u00a0cyanobacteria, microorganisms that\u00a0harness sunlight to produce\u00a0chemical compounds, through \u00a0photosynthesis.<\/p>\n<p>Cyanos (for short) thrive in environments hostile to crops, like iceberg walls or the edges of hot springs, minimizing competition for\u00a0agricultural land.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why they&#8217;re hot in the biotech\u00a0industry, with scientists wanting\u00a0to\u00a0genetically tweak them\u00a0to create products for human consumption, like\u00a0electricity, biofuels, even food and oxygen\u00a0for future manned outposts on Mars!<\/p>\n<h3>A bioplastic consortium engineered<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s a catch. Cyanos are great at photosynthesis, but not so much at making bioplastics.<\/p>\n<p>Current\u00a0methods where cyanos do it all &#8211; collect the sun\u2019s energy, the carbon, and the create the bioplastic &#8211;\u00a0end up inefficient.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47311\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47311\" style=\"width: 342px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-47311\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/consortium-sm-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"A snapshot of the microorganism cooperative. Cyanos (green) make sugar, which is leaked into a surrounding medium. Special bacteria (red) eat the sugar, which powers bioplastic production (blue). By Taylor Weiss. \" width=\"342\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/consortium-sm-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/consortium-sm.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47311\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snapshot of the microorganism cooperative. Cyanos (green) make sugar, which is leaked into a surrounding medium. Special bacteria (red) eat the sugar, which powers bioplastic production (blue).<br \/>By Taylor Weiss.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So, Taylor and his colleagues thought, why not split the workload with other organisms?<\/p>\n<p>They started out with a cyano strain that naturally produces sugar. They\u00a0tweaked them to constantly leak the sugar into a surrounding salt water medium.<\/p>\n<p>Then, they paired the cyanos with natural bacteria that make bioplastic. The bacteria\u00a0fed on the leaked sugar, which is to bacteria what honey is to bears. (For more,\u00a0see the video above.)<\/p>\n<p>Over five months of testing, the pairing turned out prolific\u00a0and robust:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Processed biomass contained a near constant 30% bioplastic content, four times more than the best cyano working alone.<\/li>\n<li>Production rates were over twenty times faster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The system is also relatively inexpensive to maintain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarvesting bioproducts is a\u00a0common costly bottleneck,\u201d Taylor adds, \u201cIt involves collecting and regrowing microorganisms from scratch, each production cycle. But, we trap our cyanos in a hydrogel bead\u00a0for reuse after\u00a0each harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47312\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47312\" style=\"width: 164px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-47312\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/mars-xs-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Perhaps we'll use cyanos to someday provide food and oxygen on Martian outposts By NASA\/Public Domain\" width=\"164\" height=\"109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/mars-xs-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2017\/10\/mars-xs.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 164px) 100vw, 164px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perhaps we&#8217;ll use cyanos to someday provide food and oxygen on Martian outposts<br \/>By NASA\/Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Also cutting costs was the fact\u00a0the plastic-producing bacteria thoroughly outcompeted other unwelcome contaminating bacteria trying to get to the sugar, without the need for human support.<\/p>\n<h3>From plastic to perfumes and medicines<\/h3>\n<p>Taylor&#8217;s cooperative\u00a0seems to continuously improve\u00a0with time, without human meddling.<\/p>\n<p>Working with one organism can be hard, because it typically prioritizes its health and growth\u00a0over producing for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut this pair\u00a0has complementary strengths: the cyanos are constantly producing sugar, and the bacteria are constantly beefing up on it, which encourages the cyanos to keep producing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, Taylor wants to improve productivity and\u00a0diversify the\u00a0bioproduct line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve laid the foundation for a \u201cplug-and-play\u201d system where a cyano can be gradually upgraded to produce more sugar. We eventually want to pair it with diverse specialist bacteria to create many cheaper, green\u00a0bioproducts like fuels, fragrances, dyes, and medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUltimately, we aren\u2019t just creating alternatives to synthetic products. We\u2019re figuring out how to ask Nature to do what it does best: figure out the problem for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The IV container that saves a life ends up on a\u00a0landfill. Or that milk jug from the store ends up floating gently down a stream,\u00a0with dozens others. By loading the video, you agree to YouTube&#8217;s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube For all their convenience, plastics are massive environmental headaches. \u201cThe main problem [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[10503,5935,6406],"supplier":[753,1144,11236],"class_list":["post-47297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradable","tag-bioplastic","tag-environment","supplier-michigan-state-university","supplier-national-science-foundation-usa","supplier-u-s-department-of-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47297","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47297"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=47297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}