Microbiology assessment as a route for understanding mixed culture processes

Outline Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biopolymers stored by numerous bacteria as a carbon and energy source, with similar properties to synthetic plastics. These polymers have been conquering an important position in the market as an ecological alternative to conventional oil-based plastics, since they are both biobased and biodegradable. However, the costs associated to PHA production are still too high to make them truly competitive. One option to cut down PHA production costs is the use of wastewater/waste/surplus feedstocks and mixed microbial cultures (MMC).