Volume 10 Issue 4
Nov.  2025
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Article Navigation >  Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts  > 2025  >  10(4): 530-544
Jongbeom Park, Woo-Young Jeon, Min-Jeong Jang, Hye-Jeong Lee, Sung-Hwa Seo, Young-Su Kim, HyunA Park, Kyung Taek Heo, Bashu Dev Pardhe, Hyunju Kim, Dongjun Park, Ik-Sung Ahn, Ye Won Bae, Hee Cheol Kang, Jae Woo Chung, Soon Ho Jang, Jung-Oh Ahn. An end-to-end microbial platform for 100% bio-based long-chain polyester: From renewable substrate to eco-friendly polymer[J]. Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, 2025, 10(4): 530-544. doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2025.09.005
Citation: Jongbeom Park, Woo-Young Jeon, Min-Jeong Jang, Hye-Jeong Lee, Sung-Hwa Seo, Young-Su Kim, HyunA Park, Kyung Taek Heo, Bashu Dev Pardhe, Hyunju Kim, Dongjun Park, Ik-Sung Ahn, Ye Won Bae, Hee Cheol Kang, Jae Woo Chung, Soon Ho Jang, Jung-Oh Ahn. An end-to-end microbial platform for 100% bio-based long-chain polyester: From renewable substrate to eco-friendly polymer[J]. Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, 2025, 10(4): 530-544. doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2025.09.005
shu

An end-to-end microbial platform for 100% bio-based long-chain polyester: From renewable substrate to eco-friendly polymer

doi: 10.1016/j.jobab.2025.09.005
  • a.

    Biotechnology Process Engineering Center, Cheongju-si 28116, Republic of Korea

  • b.

    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea

  • c.

    Department of Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea

  • d.

    Korea Textile Development Institute, Daegu 41842, Republic of Korea

  • e.

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Soongsil University, Seoul 06978, Republic of Korea

  • f.

    Bioprocess Department, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea

More Information
  • Corresponding author: E-mail address: shjang@textile.or.kr (S.H. Jang); E-mail address: ahnjo@kribb.re.kr (J.-O. Ahn)
  • Received Date: 2025-05-27
  • Accepted Date: 2025-09-10
  • Rev Recd Date: 2025-05-29
    • Available Online: 2025-10-01
  • Publish Date: 2025-11-01
    Abstract
  • The development of sustainable, eco-friendly polyesters from renewable resources is crucial for reducing dependence on petroleum-based plastics. However, despite advances in microbial production of bioplastics, significant challenges remain in achieving high conversion efficiency and scalability for industrial applications. This study is the first to report the synthesis of a 100% bio-based polyester using both 1,12-dodecanedioic acid (1,12-diacid) and 1,12-dodecanediol (1,12-diol) via a two-step microbial bioconversion from a single plant oil-derived alkane. An engineered Candida tropicalis strain produced 150 g/L of 1,12-diacid with a productivity of 1.53 g/(L·h) in a 5 L fed-batch system using a two-phase biotransformation strategy. Escherichia coli engineered to express carboxylic acid reductase, which reduces carboxylic acids to aldehydes, and its activation enzyme phosphopantetheinyl transferase, converted 1,12-diacid into 68 g/L 1,12-diol with a productivity of 1.42 g/(L·h) in a 5 L fed-batch system, representing high titer and productivity for microbial production of long-chain α,ω-diols. Both monomer production processes were successfully scaled up to a 50 L pilot fermenter, validating their potential for industrial implementation. A highly efficient downstream purification process was developed, achieving > 98% purity and recovery rates for both monomers. The bio-derived monomers enabled the synthesis of polyesters with molecular weight and thermal characteristics similar to petroleum-based monomers of the same chemical structure. This integrated approach establishes a robust and scalable microbial platform that converts renewable lipid feedstocks into fully bio-based polyesters, thereby demonstrating an environmentally sustainable and industrially viable route to circular bioeconomy-based polyester production.

     

    • Authorship contributions
    Conceptualization: Jongbeom Park. Data curation: Jongbeom Park, Hye-Jeong Lee, Kyung Taek Heo, Hyunju Kim. Writing: Jongbeom Park, Hyunju Kim, Soon Ho Jang. Validation: Woo-Young Jeon, Young-Su Kim, Bashu Dev Pardhe, Jae Woo Chung, Jung-Oh Ahn. Editing: Woo-Young Jeon, Bashu Dev Pardhe. Experiment: Min-Jeong Jang, Sung-Hwa Seo, HyunA Park, Dongjun Park, Ye Won Bae. Supervision: Ik-Sung Ahn, Soon Ho Jang, Jung-Oh Ahn. Characterization: Hee Cheol Kang.
    Declaration of Competing Interest
    The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
    Supplementary materials
    Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.jobab.2025.09.005
    Peer review under the responsibility of Editorial Office of Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts.
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