Plant-based (photosynthesis fuelled) production systems
for PHA have been under intensive investigation
over recent years [82,83]. Poirier first demonstrated
this approach in 1992 [84] using transgenic Arabidopsis
expressing acetoacetyl-CoA reductase and PHB synthase
from Ralstonia eutropha. (There have been a series of name
changes for many ofthe organisms used for PHA accumulation.
For example, Ralstonia eutropha (the most extensively
studied bacterium) was originally named Hydrogenomonas
eutrophus, then renamed Alcaligenes eutropha, and has
since been renamed.) The commercial development of
plant-based PHA production processes is now underway,
although there is still much research to be done. For example,
Metabolix has been developing technologies in a range
of transgenic plants, such as tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
[85] and switchgrass [86]. Preliminary investigations are