Production of antibodies for the screening of transgenic plants individually expressing phbA, phbB and phbC

• Main Author: Loo, Hui Phing.
• Other Authors: Gan-Yap, Yik Yuen
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Botany::Plant ecology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/14081
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Polyhydroxybutyric acid (PHB) is a carbon storage material synthesised by many microorganisms under nutrient limiting conditions. PHB has properties resembling that of conventional plastics such as polypropylene, thus it is regarded as an ideal candidate to replace conventional plastics and rectify problems arising from plastic waste disposal. PHB is synthesised from acetyl-CoA by the consecutive action of 3-ketothiolase, acetoacetyl-CoA reductase and PHB synthase. Currently PHB is commercially produced from bacterial fermentation processes and marketed by Zeneca Bio Products (formerly known as ICI). The coding sequences of phb genes have been cloned into recombinant E. coli strains. However, this method of production is not as cost effective as compared to using a plant system.