SYNTHESIS OF HIGH-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT POLY([R]-(-)-3-HYDROXYBUTYRATE) INTRANSGENIC ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA PLANT-CELLS

High-molecular-weight poly([R]-(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a biodegr adable thermoplastic, was produced from a suspension culture of transg enic Arabidopsis thaliana plant cells expressing two genes from the ba cterium Alcaligenes eutrophus involved in the synthesis of PHB. The mo lecular structure of the plant-produced polymer was analysed by gas ch romatography, mass spectrometry, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spe ctroscopy, infra-red spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, differential sc anning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and size exclusion chromatograph y. The results indicate that the polymer from transgenic plants appear s to have a chemical structure identical to that of PHB produced by ba cteria. However, the molecular weight distribution of the plant-produc ed PHB was much broader than that of typical bacterial PHB.