polyhydroxyalkanoates
pah-lee-hy-DROK-see-al-KAY-no-ayts
Definition
A family of natural polyester polymers produced by various bacteria and archaea as a stored carbon and energy reserve.
Etymology
The term is a chemical compound word derived from 'poly-' (many), 'hydroxy-' (a chemical group containing oxygen and hydrogen), and 'alkanoate' (a salt or ester of an alkanoic acid).
In the news
The article explains how marine worms use a specific enzyme to digest these polymers, which the worms' symbiotic bacteria produce as internal energy stores.
A marine worm with no mouth and no gut makes its own enzyme for digesting the bioplastic its skin bacteria build up, and the same kind of enzyme turned up in 66 more animal species across nine phyla, from a sponge to an earthworm to a springtail
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com