Cited by 780biodegradable polymer synthesis and propertiesMicrobial bioremediation and biosurfactantsPolymer crystallization and properties

Bacterial Polyesters: Biosynthesis, Biodegradable Plastics and Biotechnology

Lenz, Robert W., Marchessault, Robert H.·2005·Biomacromolecules

Abstract

The discovery and chemical identification, in the 1920s, of the aliphatic polyester: poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, as a granular component in bacterial cells proceeded without any of the controversies which marked the recognition of macromolecules by Staudinger. Some thirty years after its discovery, PHB was recognized as the prototypical biodegradable thermoplastic to solve the waste disposal challenge. The development effort led by Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., encouraged interdisciplinary research from genetic engineering and biotechnology to the study of enzymes involved in biosynthesis and biodegradation. From the simple PHB homopolyester discovered by Maurice Lemoigne in the mid-twenties, a family of over 100 different aliphatic polyesters of the same general structure has been discovered. Depending on bacterial species and substrates, these high molecular weight stereoregular polyesters have emerged as a new family of natural polymers ranking with nucleic acids, polyamides, polyisoprenoids, polyphenols, polyphosphates, and polysaccharides. In this historical review, the chemical, biochemical and microbial highlights are linked to personalities and locations involved with the events covering a discovery timespan of 75 years.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1021/bm049700c

Cites

49 of 49 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • PHAs are naturally produced by various bacteria but only isotactic microstructures are made biologically.

    “PHAs are naturally produced by various bacteria (section 3.3) but only isotactic microstructures are made biologically.317”

    From Catalysis as an Enabling Science for Sustainable Polymers (2018) · cites this paper as [317]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lenz, R. W., & Marchessault, R. H.
Affiliations
University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
Corresponding author
Lenz, Robert W.
Venue
Biomacromolecules
Published
2004-11-23
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
1-8
ISSN
  • 1525-7797 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-4602
OpenAlex
W2067182728
Cited by
780
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 43
FWCI
10.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Biomacromolecules (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microbial bioremediation and biosurfactants
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
Keywords
bacterial polyesters, polyhydroxybutyrate, aliphatic polyesters, biodegradable plastics, polyester biodegradation, stereoregular polymers, natural polymers, genetic engineering of bacteria, biotechnology
MeSH terms
Bacteria, Biodegradation, Environmental, Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering, Molecular Weight, Polyesters, Polymers, 3-Hydroxybutyric Acid, History, 20th Century

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review