Molecular Identification of Native Pseudomonas Strains with Polyethylene Degradation Ability from Soil
Subject Areas : Environmental Microbiology
Hanieh Shahreza
1
(
Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
)
Abbas Akhavan Sepahi
2
(
Department of Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
)
farzaneh hosseini
3
(
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
)
Ramezan Ali Khavarinejad
4
(
Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
)
Keywords: Polyethylene, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, alk-B gene, gene cloning,
Abstract :
Background & Objectives: Nowadays, high consumption plastics such as polyethylene are recognized as one of the major environmental pollutants by the World Environment Organization. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify native Pseudomonas bacterial strains with the polyethylene packaging degradation ability. Materials & Methods: In order to conduct this study, soil samples were collected. In order to isolate the isolates with polyethylene degradation ability, two methods of direct culture and culture by pre-enrichment method were used. After culturing the bacteria in MSM medium and examining the percentage of plastic weight loss, the superior strain was selected for DNA extraction and PCR of alk-B gene. PCR results were sequenced and examined phylogenetically. Results: The results of the present study showed that the percentage of degradation of polyethylene by Pseudomonas strains was 7.2% at most and 4.5% on average. Also, all purified degrading bacteria in this study harbored alk-B gene. Conclusion: The results showed that the degradation of polyethylene materials can be significantly accelerated by using and optimizing bacteria isolated from soil. It seems that by promoting genetic methods based on the genome of bacteria, especially the strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it is possible to develop methods during which all commonly used types of polyethylene are degraded in a much shorter time than normal.
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