A New Method for the Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Bacillus sp. and Detect the Presence of PHA Synthase

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates are recently found to be suitable alternative to conventional petrochemical plastics because of their similar material properties and complete degradability. These are microbial polyesters synthesized by several bacteria intracellularly as source of carbon and energy. In the present study, the efficient PHA-producing organisms that were isolated from oil-contaminated soil samples were screened using Sudan Black stain. The maximum of 0.081gm/100 mL PHA was produced by isolates 3–6 which utilized sago liquid waste as carbon source. The isolates 3–6 was identified to belong to Bacillus sp. and on scanning electron microscope, spherical PHA granules were observed which was compared to the reference strain. Further, PHA synthase was partially precipitated by ammonium sulfate followed by dialysis. Ion-exchange chromatography showed peak at 200 nm indicating the presence PHA synthase. Thus, the current study deals with optimization of media for PHA produced by Bacillus sp. at lab conditions can further be scaled up for large-scale production.

Keywords:

• PHA
• carbon
• biodegradable
• optimization
• SEM
• RSM

Abbreviations:

• PHA-Polyhydroxyalkanoate
• SEM-Scanning electron microscope
• RSM-Resonance surface methodology

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Periyar University for providing sophisticated laboratory facilities to carry out this research work. The authors also sincerely show gratitude to DST-FIST, New Delhi, India for granting sophisticated instrumentation with reference No. SR / FST / LSI – 640 / 2015 (C) dated 30/5/2016.