Polyethylene terephthalate hydrolysate increased bacterial cellulose production.

A major challenge to large-scale production and utilization of bacterial cellulose (BC) for various applications is its low yield and productivity by bacterial cells and the high cost of feedstock. A supplementation of the classical expensive Hestrin and Schramm (HS) medium with 1 % polyethylene terephthalate ammonia hydrolysate (PETAH) resulted in 215 % high yield. Although the physicochemical properties of BC were not significantly influenced, the BC produced in 1 % PETAH-supplemented HS medium showed a higher surface area, which showed 1.39 times higher adsorption capacity for tetracycline than BC produced in HS medium. The 1 % PETAH-supplemented HS medium respectively enhanced the activity of α-UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and α-phosphoglucomutase by 30.63 % and 135.24 % and decreased the activity of pyruvate kinase and phosphofructokinase by 40.34 % and 52.63 %. The results of this study provide insights into the activation mechanism of Taonella mepensis by PETAH supplementation for high yield and productivity of BC.

Bacterial cellulose production from terylene ammonia hydrolysate by Taonella mepensis WT-6.

Hydrothermal degradation was used to pretreat terylene with an aim of noticeably improving the yield of fermentable monomers: terephthalic acid (TPA), mono (2- hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid (MHET), bis-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), and ethylene glycol (EG). After 0.5 h of reaction time at 180 °C, hydrothermal degradation with ammonia led to almost complete conversion of the terylene to TPA, MHET, BHET and EG, which were then transformed by Taonella mepensis WT-6 to bacterial cellulose (BC). Furthermore, the optimum fermentation conditions with the maximum BC yield were 5.0 g/L yeast extract, 30.0 °C, pH 9.0, 8.0% inoculum, and hydrolysate TOC (5.02 g/L). Additionally, mechanical and thermal analysis revealed that the properties of BC produced from TAH medium were similar to those of BC produced with HS medium. Considering the substantial amount of global terylene waste being produced, this study provides an alternative solution for the biosynthesis of BC.