Patent ID: 8273852

Claim:
A method of making MCL-PHA polymer, comprising: providing MCL-PHA-producing microbial cells in a medium suitable for microbial growth, the medium comprising: a substrate that is structurally related to MCL-PHA; a carbon source that is not structurally related to MCL-PHA; and a β-oxidation pathway inhibitor; and allowing microbial cell growth to occur in the medium wherein the microbial cells synthesize MCL-PHA polymer; wherein the MCL-PHA polymer is a homopolymer or a copolymer that has a selected ratio of comonomers that differs from that obtained in the absence of the β-oxidation pathway inhibitor; wherein microbial cell growth and MCL-PHA copolymer production take place in a carbon-limited fed-batch or a carbon-limited continuous fermentation process.