US 7,393,668 B2
Method of collecting highly pure polyhydroxyalkanoate from microbial cells
Yoshifumi Yanagita, Akashi (Japan); Noriko Ogawa, Kobe (Japan); Yasuyoshi Ueda, Himeji (Japan); Fumio Osakada, Okayama (Japan); and Keiji Matsumoto, Nishinomiya (Japan)
Assigned to Kaneka Corporation, Osaka-shi (Japan)
Appl. No. 10/541,389
PCT Filed Jan. 20, 2004, PCT No. PCT/JP2004/000416
§ 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Jul. 01, 2005,
PCT Pub. No. WO2004/065608, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 05, 2004.
Claims priority of application No. 2003-011099 (JP), filed on Jan. 20, 2003.
Prior Publication US 2006/0084161 A1, Apr. 20, 2006
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. C12P 7/62 (2006.01); C12N 9/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 435—135  [435/183] 20 Claims
 
1. A method for recovering a polyhydroxyalkanoate from a polyhydroxyalkanoate-containing microbial cell
which comprises the following steps (a) and (b);
(a) a step comprising adding an alkali to an aqueous suspension of the polyhydroxyalkanoate-containing microbial cell while stirring and carrying out a physical disruption treatment to disrupt the cell, solubilizing or emulsifying cell substances other than the polyhydroxyalkanoate in said cell, and then separating the polyhydroxyalkanoate from the aqueous suspension, and
(b) a step comprising treating the separated polyhydroxyalkanoate with an enzyme and/or a surfactant to solubilize impurities adhering to the polyhydroxyalkanoate or to solubilize them after decomposing, and then washing the polyhydroxyalkanoate with a hydrophilic solvent and/or water.