Molecular Identification of Native Pseudomonas Strains with Polyethylene Degradation Ability from Soil

Subject Areas : Environmental Microbiology

Hanieh Shahreza ¹ , Abbas Akhavan Sepahi ^{2 *} , farzaneh hosseini ³ , Ramezan Ali Khavarinejad ⁴

1 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Department of Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
4 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2021-06-09 Accepted : 2021-11-22 Published : 2021-11-22

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.