RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Characterization of a rationally engineered phaCAB operon with a hybrid promoter design JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 006106 DO 10.1101/006106 A1 Iain Bower A1 Bobby Wenqiang Chi A1 Matthew Ho Wai Chin A1 Sisi Fan A1 Margarita Kopniczky A1 Jemma Pilcher A1 James Strutt A1 Richard Kelwick A1 Alexander Webb A1 Kirsten Jensen A1 Guy-Bart Stan A1 Richard Kitney A1 Paul Freemont YR 2014 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/06/09/006106.abstract 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.