Alcaligenes eutrophus

Ralstonia eutrophus (formerly Alcaligenes eutrophus)
Cultures of Alcaligenes eutrophus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Beta Proteobacteria
Order:	Burkholderiales
Family:	Alcaligenaceae
Genus:	Alcaligenes
Species:	A. eutrophus
Binomial name
Alcaligenes eutrophus Davis 1969

Alcaligenes eutrophus is a bacterial species that naturally produces polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). PHAs are a broad type of biodegradable polymers that can be used for biodegradable plastics. A. eutrophus specifically produces polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which it uses for storing carbon when in an environment with abundant carbon, but limited essential nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus. The gene for PHB production has been cloned and engineered into plants.

The name Alcaligenes eutrophus is no longer used. After modification to Ralstonia eutrophus and then Wausteria eutrophus, the name is now Ralstonia metallidurans^[1] or Cuprivadus necator^[2]

References

1. ^ Goris J et al.,(2001) "Classification of metal-resistant bacteria from industrial biotopes as Ralstonia campinensis sp. nov., Ralstonia metallidurans sp. nov. and Ralstonia basilensis." Steinle et al. 1998 emend. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 51: 1773–1782.
2. ^ NCBI Taxonomy Browser. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=106590&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock

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