Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have been produced by various bacteria as natural polymers stored in bacterial cells as a source of carbon and energy. They are currently preferred biomaterials for use in many industrial fields instead of conventional non-degradable plastics. Due to their unique properties they can reduce pollution caused by the increasing global polymer demand. Pseudomonas species have been chosen as PHAs producers in many recent studies. Being metabolically versatile and possessing a remarkable tolerance to a wide range of carbon sources, these bacteria have become an efficient cell factory for PHAs production. Currently, attention is focused on the design of Pseudomonas strains to increase their ability to accumulate PHAs in the cell and modifying their biosynthetic pathways to obtain strains with modified compositions and improved properties. This article discusses the current state of knowledge of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesized by Pseudomonas species which are industrially important microorganisms. This review provides an overview of recent trends towards PHA production, focusing on the utilization of low-cost carbon sources, fermentation strategies, PHAs properties and their uses as valuable bioproducts.

Waste of industrial origin produced from synthetic materials are a serious threat to the natural environment. The ending resources of fossil raw materials and increasingly restrictive legal standards for the management of plastic waste have led to research on the use of biopolymers, which, due to their properties, may be an ecological alternative to currently used petrochemical polymers. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have gained much attention in recent years as the next generation of environmentally friendly materials. Currently, a lot of research is being done to reduce the costs of the biological process of PHA synthesis, which is the main factor limiting the production of PHAs on the industrial scale. The volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced by anaerobic digestion from organic industrial and food waste, and various types of wastewater could be suitable carbon sources for PHA production. Thus, reusing the organic waste, while reducing the future fossil fuel, originated from plastic waste. PHA production from VFAs seem to be a good approach since VFAs composition determines the constituents of PHAs polymer and is of great influence on its properties. In order to reduce the overall costs of PHA production to a more reasonable level, it will be necessary to design a bioprocess that maximizes VFAs production, which will be beneficial for the PHA synthesis. Additionally, a very important factor that affects the profitable production of PHAs from VFAs is the selection of a microbial producer that will effectively synthesize the desired bioproduct. PHA production from VFAs has gained significant interest since VFAs composition determines the constituents of PHA polymer. Thus far, the conversion of VFAs into PHAs using pure bacterial cultures has received little attention, and the majority of studies have used mixed microbial communities for this purpose. This review discusses the current state of knowledge on PHAs synthesized by microorganisms cultured on VFAs.