[Biodegradation of polyhydroxyalkanoates by soil microbiocoenoses of different structures and detection of microorganisms-destructors].

Biodegradation of microbial linear polymers of hydroxyalkanoic acids (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) by soil microbiocoenoses of different structures has been studied during two field seasons in different weather conditions. This process was shown to be influenced by the polymer chemical composition, temperature, humidity, and the microbial soil component. The PHA degradation was accompanied by a decrease in the polymer molecular weight and an increase in the degree of crystallinity, indicating the preferential destruction of the amorphous phase compared to the crystalline one. The quantity of the true PHA destructors developing at the surface of the polymer samples was lower than the quantity of accompanying bacteria. The dominant PHA destructors under the test conditions were identified as bacteria of the genera Variovorax, Stenotrophomonas, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Xanthomonas and as micromycetes from Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Acremonium, Verticillium. and Zygosporium.

[Physicochemical properties of multicomponent polyhydroxyalkanoates].

X-ray structure analysis, IR spectrometry, differential thermal analysis, and viscosimetry have been used to investigate the properties of novel five-component polyhydroxyalkanoates formed by short- and medium-chain-length monomers synthesized by the bacterium Wautersia eutropha B5786. As the molar fraction of hydroxyhexanoate contained in polyhydroxyalkanoates samples increased from 2.5 to 18.0 mol%, their degree of crystallinity decreased from 72 to 57%. The melting temperature of multicomponent polyhydroxyalkanoates (Tm) and their temperature for the onset of decomposition (Td) are lower than those of polyhydroxybutyrate, whose Tm is 168-170 degrees C and Td 260-265 degrees C. In multicomponent polymers (PHA(SC+MC)), both parameters decrease as the molar fraction of hydroxyhexanoate grows to 156 and 252 degrees C, respectively, in the range of hydroxyhexanoate content studied. Hydroxyhexanoate influences the physicochemical properties of polyhydroxyalkanoates similarly to hydroxyvalerate; as the fraction of either of these medium-chain-length monomers in polyhydroxyalkanoates increases, the crystallinity of the polymer decreases, but its thermostability remains unchanged.

[Physicochemical properties of two-component polyhydroxyalkanoates based on 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate]. / Fisiko-khimicheskie svoistva dvukhkomponentnykh--3-gidroksibutirata i 3-gidroksivalerata poligidroksialkanoatov.

A series of two-component polyhydroxyalkanoates consisting of hydroxybutyrate and hydroxyvalerate monomer at different ratios were synthesized using the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha B5786. The properties of polyhydroxyalkanoates were compared with those of the homopolymer of hydroxybutyric acid by X-ray structure analysis, IR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and viscosimetry. With an increase in the molar fraction of hydroxyvalerate, an equalization of the ratio of the crystalline and amorphous phases in the copolymer was observed. The degree of crystallinity of the polymer decreased from 70-80 to 45-50%; in the range of an increase in the hydroxyvalerate molar fraction from several to 25-30 mol%, the dependence was linear. The temperature characteristics, the melting temperature (T(m)), and the degradation temperature (T(d)) were lower in polyhydroxyalkanoates than in polyhydroxybutyrate, for which T(m) and T(d) were 168-170 and 260-265 degrees C, respectively. In the copolymer, as the molar fraction of hydroxyvalerate grew, both parameters decreased. In the range of variation of monomer ratio studied, they decreased to 150-160 and 200-220 degrees C, respectively. No distinct correlation between the composition of the polymer and its molecular mass was found.

[Study of molecular structure of polyhydroxybutyrate-a termoplastic anddegradable biopolymer]. / Issledovanie molekuliarnoi struktury polioksibutirata-termoplastichnogo razrushaemogo biopolimera.

The molecular structure of polyhydroxybutyrate from hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria Alcaligenes eutrophus was studied by X-ray diffraction analysis. It was shown that the degree of crystallinity of various samples depends little on the conditions of their preparation and is equal to 0.62-0.76. The molecular structure of solid samples and solution of polyhydroxybutyrate in chloroform were studied by the NMR and EPR methods. The conclusion is made that the molecular structure of polyhydroxybutyrate does not depend on the features of the strain and conditions of carbon nutrition of microorganisms producing polyhydroxybutyrate. Defects induced by gamma-radiation in polyhydroxybutyrate were studied. Free radicals were isolated, and their structure was decoded.

[Structure of molecules of crystalline (Phe1, Ala9)antamanide]. / Stroenie molekul kristallicheskogo (Phe1, Ala9)antamnida.

The molecular structure of a [Phe1, Ala9]antamanide complex with four water molecules has been determined by X-ray analysis. The antamanide's analogue, C64H74N10O10.4H2O, crystallizes in the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 15.909, b = 28.071 and c = 14.367 A, Z = 4. The molecule contains a pseudo two-fold rotation axis and two intra-molecular NH...O = C bonds of the 5-->1 type, its conformation being similar to that of antamanide. There are inter-molecular H-bonds over the water molecules in the structure.