ABSTRACT
We have isolated several poly 3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate (PHBH) degradable bacteria from the deep-sea sediment samples. The isolated microbes were involved into α-, γ- Proteobacteria group and the phylum Firmicutes, which were commonly diverged in the ocean environment. Four bacterial strains, Bacillus sp. MH10, Alteromonas sp. MH53, Psychrobacillus sp. PL87 and Rheinheimera sp. PL100, were selected as more active strains for the PHBH bio-degradation at high pressure and cold temperature conditions, and showed that those strains were piezotolerant up to 20–30 MPa. Our findings indicated that the PHBH could be well degraded not only in the ocean environment, but also at the deep-sea bottom, by means of those marine microorganisms.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the science groups of the KM16-04 cruises, the deep-sea remote operated vehicle Hyper Dolphin and MS Kaimei’s ROV operation teams, and the crews of the MS Kaimei for helping us to collect the deep-sea sediment samples. We also thank Dr. Akihiro Tame (Marine Work Japan Co.) to help the electron microscopic observations.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.