PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Iain Bower
AU  - Bobby Wenqiang Chi
AU  - Matthew Ho Wai Chin
AU  - Sisi Fan
AU  - Margarita Kopniczky
AU  - Jemma Pilcher
AU  - James Strutt
AU  - Richard Kelwick
AU  - Alexander Webb
AU  - Kirsten Jensen
AU  - Guy-Bart Stan
AU  - Richard Kitney
AU  - Paul Freemont
TI  - Characterization of a rationally engineered <em>phaCAB</em> operon with a hybrid promoter design
AID  - 10.1101/006106
DP  - 2014 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 006106
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/06/09/006106.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/06/09/006106.full
AB  - Biopolymers, such as poly-3-hydroxy-butyrate (P(3HB)) are produced as a carbon store in an array of organisms and exhibit characteristics which are similar to oil-derived plastics, yet have the added advantages of biodegradability and biocompatibility. Despite these advantages, P(3HB) production is currently more expensive than the production of oil-derived plastics, and therefore more efficient P(3HB) production processes are required. In this study, we describe the model-guided design and experimental characterization of several engineered P(3HB) producing operons. In particular, we describe the characterization of a novel hybrid phaCAB operon that consists of a dual promoter (native and J23104) and RBS (native and B0034) design. P(3HB) production was around six-fold higher in hybrid phaCAB engineered Escherichia coli in comparison to E. coli engineered with the native phaCAB operon from Ralstonia eutropha H16. The hybrid phaCAB operon represents a step towards the more efficient production of P(3HB), which has an array of applications from 3D printing to tissue engineering.