o A research team led by Professor Younghoon Kim in the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology at Seoul National University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has identified a bacterial strain capable of converting cultivated-meat spent medium (CSM) into a biodegradable bioplastic. CSM is generated after animal cells are cultured for cultivated meat production and contains residual organic carbon, nitrogen compounds, and nutrients. The team demonstrated that Brevibacillus fluminis SLAM AEPS10 can grow in CSM, reduce pollutant load, and produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a biodegradable polymer, within a single bacterial process.
o The team screened 29 rumen-derived bacterial isolates for growth in CSM and PHB production. Among them, AEPS10 showed stable growth in CSM and accumulated intracellular PHB granules. After 72 hours of cultivation, AEPS10 reduced biological oxygen demand (BOD), total organic carbon (TOC), and ammonium by 77.8%, 62.7%, and 46.5%, respectively. The strain also produced 15.83 mg/L PHB from untreated CSM, and PHB production increased to 80 mg/L under glucose-supplemented conditions.
o The research team confirmed PHB accumulation using Nile Red staining and single-cell image analysis. Chemical analyses using FT-IR, NMR, and GC-FID verified that the recovered polymer was PHB homopolymer. Whole-genome analysis further identified a PHB synthesis-related gene cluster in AEPS10, including phaC, phaQ, and fabG. Amino acid sequence identity analysis of PHB-related proteins supported the genetic basis for PHB production in AEPS10.
o This study used CSM generated from the cultivated meat project led by Professor Cheorun Jo’s Animal Food Science Laboratory at Seoul National University and showed its potential as a microbial resource for biobased material production. AEPS10 reduced the pollutant load of CSM and produced the biodegradable bioplastic PHB, linking cultivated-meat spent medium treatment with high-value material production in a single microbial process.
o Arthur Junghun Kim, a researcher involved in the study, said, “This study was an interdisciplinary effort connecting cultivated meat research in animal food science with microbial bioprocessing for biobased materials. It shows that spent medium from the cultivated meat industry can serve as a starting point for carbon recycling and biodegradable material production. We expect this approach to contribute to circular bioprocess development linking cultivated-meat waste management with biobased material production.”