Production of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate by thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp MA19, under phosphate-limited conditions

Synechococcus sp. MA19, grown autotrophically under phosphate-limited conditions at 50 degreesC, produced poly-beta -hydroxybutyrate (PHB) when intracellular phosphate content was 0.043-0.076 mmol per g of cellular components. In the culture for 260 h using Ca-3(PO4)(2) as a phosphate source, strain MA19 accumulated PHB at 55% (w/w) of the dry cells and the amount of PHB produced was 2.4 g l(-1) which was almost twice that without Ca-3(PO4)(2) addition.