Abstract: A process for producing a polyester, the process comprising the steps of (1) fermenting a saccharide with a microorganism to obtain at least one substituted ?-hydroxy acid represented by the formula: HO—CHR—COOH (wherein R represents a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms), and (2) polymerizing the substituted ?-hydroxy acid or a derivative thereof.

Abstract: Electrophoretic particles for electrophoretic display having excellent dispersibility and dispersion stability with time for insulating media, and being protected against coagulation, settling and the like, a process for production of the electrophoretic particles having high versatility for pigments to be used in response to a full-color display, and an electrophoretic display device using the electrophoretic particles that has an excellent memory property and is highly reliable are provided. The electrophoretic particles are formed using as at least a part of structure a pigment with at least a part of the surface covered with polyhydroxyalkanoate.

Abstract: A construct that comprises a base material and a polyhydroxyalkanoate, wherein at least a part of the base material is coated with the polyhydroxyalkanoate, and the polyhydroxyalkanoate comprises a 3-hydroxyalkanoic acid unit other than 3-hydroxypropionic acid unit, 3-hydroxy-n-butyric acid unit, and 3-hydroxy-n-valeric acid unit.

Abstract: Disclosed are a polyhydroxyalkanoate, containing in a polymer molecule thereof a monomer unit represented by the following general formula (1): 1

Abstract: An assay method for determining presence of a target antibody or antigen in a specimen qualitatively or quantitatively by mixing the specimen with an antigen or antibody immunologically reactive with the target antibody or antigen, and assaying the level of the immunological agglutination reaction, wherein the reactive antigen or antibody is effectively immobilized on the carrier via an amino acid sequence capable of binding to the carrier.

Abstract: A method is provided for culturing a microorganism in a culture medium containing a carbon source and an electrolyzed water containing not more than 0.4 ppm chlorine produced during electrolyzing water containing an electrolyte in an electrolytic cell. The culture medium may also contain a carbon source and an acidic water having a pH value of 1-4 and a redox potential from 800 mV to 1500 mV. The acidic water is obtained by electrolysis of water in an electrolytic cell. Further, the culture medium may contain a carbon source and an alkaline water having a pH value of 10-13 and a redox potential from −1000 mV to 800 mV. The alkaline water is obtained by electrolysis of water in an electrolytic cell. The redox potential for the alkaline water is determined by the use of a platinum electrode as a working electrode and a silver-silver chloride electrode as a reference electrode. The microorganism may be selected from Escherichia coli, strain J1, strain JM2N, or an artificial recombinant.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing polyhydroxyalkanoate-containing structure, at least a part of a base material surface of the structure being coated with polyhydroxyalkanoate, the method comprises the steps of immobilizing a polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase on the base material surface, synthesizing, on the base material surface, polyhydroxyalkanoate using a 3-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A to become the substrate of the synthase and the synthase and coating at least a part of the base material surface with the synthesized polyhydroxyalkanoate, wherein the synthase contains an amino acid sequence capable of binding to the base material.

Abstract: Electrophoretic particles for electrophoretic display having excellent dispersibility and dispersion stability with time for insulating media, and being protected against coagulation, settling and the like, a process for production of the electrophoretic particles having high versatility for pigments to be used in response to a full-color display, and an electrophoretic display device using the electrophoretic particles that has an excellent memory property and is highly reliable are provided. The electrophoretic particles are formed using as at least a part of structure a pigment with at least a part of the surface covered with polyhydroxyalkanoate.

Abstract: A micro-capsulated pigment containing pigment ink being excellent in density, fineness, transparency, and coloring and color rendering properties required for ink solutions and having excellent dispersibility and dispersion stability with time due to the reduced particle size is provided. At least a color material with at least part of the surfaces of pigment particles covered with polyhydroxyalkanoate, and a medium for dispersion of the color material are used to obtain the pigment ink.

Abstract: The invention provides coloring composition for color filters making use of a pigment, in which the dispersed state of the pigment is stable without using any surfactant, and so aggregation is hard to occur, and which permits formation of high-definition and high-quality images excellent in color rendition, transparency and contrast, and a simple production process thereof, by which the use of surfactants can be abolished, or the amount of surfactants used can be reduced to a great extent. The coloring composition for color filters is provided by using at least a coloring material obtained by coating at least part of surfaces of pigment particles with polyhydroxyalkanoate, and a dispersion medium for the coloring material.

Abstract: The invention provides a particulate construct such as microcapsules containing a drug, and serving a slow releasing preparation not associated with a practically unacceptable initial burst release but showing a practically acceptable zero-order release for a certain period and a producing method for such particulate construct, and a slow releasing preparation of a high drug content capable of stably incorporating the drug in the particulate construct such as microcapsules, and a producing method for such preparation.

Abstract: The invention provides polyhydroxyalkanoate having a bromo group in a unit and being thermally stable and capable of arbitrarily controlling physical properties, and a producing method thereof. According to the invention, there are provided a polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer including a 3-hydroxy-&ohgr;-bromoalkanoic acid unit represented by a formula —[OCH((CH2)nBr)CH2C(O)]— (n=1 to 8) (1) and a unit represented by a formula —[OCH((CH2)mR)CH2C(O)]— (2) within a same molecule, and a method for producing a polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer by microorganisms, utilizing a &ohgr;-bromoalkanoic acid represented by a formula Br(CH2)pCH2CH2COOH (p=1 to 8) (20) and a compound represented by a formula R(CH2)qCH2CH2COOH (21) as raw materials.

Abstract: Electrostatic charge image developing toner allows to design the toner characteristics such as chargeability, flowability, stability in time and environmental stability uniform among the toners of different colors. The toner has a small particle size enough for enabling uniform dispersion and being excellent in color saturation and transparency. The toner also shows higher contribution to the environmental security. The toner includes a coloring agent of which at least a part of the surface is covered with polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). The toner is produced by dispersing the coloring agent in aqueous medium, then fixing PHA synthesizing enzyme to the coloring agent dispersed in the aqueous medium, then adding 3-hydroxyacyl CoA, and executing a PHA synthesizing reaction to cover at least a part of the surface of the coloring agent with PHA. The toner thus obtained is used for an image forming method.

Abstract: To provide a structure that has both drug holding capability and sustained releasability a liposome and mechanical strength of polyhydroxyalkanoate, is excellent in holding capability for hydrophilic drugs and other water-soluble substances as well as liphophilic drugs and other hydrophobic substances, and is capable of controlling the sustained releasability. To coat with polyhydroxyalkanoate at least part of the outer wall of the liposome.

Abstract: A construct that comprises a base material and a polyhydroxyalkanoate, wherein at least a part of the base material is coated with the polyhyroxyalkanoate, and the polyhydroxyalkanoate comprises a 3-hydroxyalkanoic acid unit other than 3-hydroxypropionic acid unit, 3-hydroxy-n-butyric acid unit, and 3-hydroxy-n-valeric acid unit.

Abstract: A capsular structure is provided which does not cause load to the environment and the living things, produced by utilizing PHA having various functionality, enclosing cores at a high density without limitation of the core material. The granular structure has granules coated at least partly with a polyhydroxyalkanoate constituted of monomer units of at least one of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, 3-hydorxy-n-butyric acid, and 3-hydroxy-n-valeric acid.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing an aliphatic polyester, utilizing starch as a raw material. The invention produces an aliphatic polyester by the steps of hydrolyzing starch to obtain glucose, oxidizing the glucose to obtain gluconolactone or gluconic acid, reducing the gluconolactone or the gluconic acid to obtain caproic acid, chlorinating the caproic acid to obtain 6-chlorocaproic acid, cyclizing the 6-chlorocaproic acid to obtain &egr;-caprolactone, and executing ring-opening polymerization of the &egr;-caprolactone.

Abstract: A process for producing a polyester, the process comprising the steps of (1) fermenting a saccharide with a microorganism to obtain at least one substituted &agr;-hydroxy acid represented by the formula: HO—CHR—COOH (wherein R represents a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms), and (2) polymerizing the substituted &agr;-hydroxy acid or a derivative thereof.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing an aliphatic polyester, utilizing starch as a raw material. The invention produces an aliphatic polyester by the steps of hydrolyzing starch to obtain glucose, oxidizing the glucose to obtain gluconolactone or gluconic acid, reducing the gluconolactone or the gluconic acid to obtain caproic acid, chlorinating the caproic acid to obtain 6-chlorocaproic acid, cyclizing the 6-chlorocaproic acid to obtain &egr;-caprolactone, and executing ring-opening polymerization of the &egr;-caprolactone.

Abstract: Microorganisms capable of synthesizing novel polyhydroxyalkanoate having 3-hydroxythienylalkanoic acid as monomer unit, using thienylalkanoic acid as a stock are cultured on a culture medium containing thienylalkanoic acid, and the polyhydroxyalkanoate produced in the cultured cell is extracted and