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Article: A thermoplastic elastomer produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas oleovorans.
- Article from:
- Rubber World
- Article date:
- November 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Lippincott & Peto, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The existence of elastomers in plants has been known since the 1500s. Natural rubber continues as a main source of elastomeric material even with the advent of many synthetic elastomers due in part to the renewable resource, plants.
Since the 1920s polyesters, generally known as poly([beta]hydroxyalkanoates), (PHAs), have been known to accumulate in various bacteria. The polymer accumulates in intracellular inclusion bodies and was determined to be a reserve carbon and energy source for the bacteria (ref. 1). Researchers found that polymer accumulation was triggered when the environment of the bacteria either lacked, or was limited in, an essential nutrient (such ...