Kaneka Corporation

Tetsuya Fujiki

Shunsuke Sato

Keiji Matsumoto

Shingo Kobayashi

Hitoshi Sashiwa

Hiroka Murakami

An object of the invention is to improve the crystallization speed of a PHA copolymer which is to be slowly crystallized, and improve the melt workability and productivity. A microorganism is used which has genes encoding two or more different PHA synthases derived from the genus. The genes encoding the PHA synthases derived from the genuspreferably include genes encoding at least two PHA synthases which are capable of synthesizing a copolymer PHA including, as monomer unit species, 3-hydroxybutyric acid and 3-hydroxyhexanoic acid, and which are different in substrate specificity toward 3-hydroxyhexanoic acid from each other. When this microorganism is cultured, a PHA mixture can be produced which includes three or more PHA species different in melting point from each other.

Microorganism having PHA synthase-coding genes and method for producing PHA using same

Using as a carbon source a long chain fatty acid which has not necessarily been efficaciously used in industry, culture of a microorganism and production of a substance by the microorganism are industrially efficiently carried out. A microorganism is cultured in the presence of a carbon source including anyone of the following compositions: (1) a fatty acid composition containing at least two fatty acids selected from the group consisting of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid; and (2) a mixed composition containing at least one fatty acid selected from the group consisting of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid, and a fat and oil, and having a content of the fatty acid of not less than 10% by weight.

Method for culturing microorganism, and process for producing substance with microorganism

The present invention provides a microorganism that synthesizes a high-molecular-weight PHA, and a method for producing a high-molecular-weight PHA, which have a productivity of at least 100 g/L. The provision is achieved by controlling the specific activity of a PHA synthase in cells of a microorganism that belongs to the genusand is capable of producing a PHA, to 0.1 U/mg-protein at most. The microorganism and the method enable industrially efficient production of a PHA with a weight average molecular weight of at least 4,000,000.

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Osaka, Japan

Tetsuya Fujiki