Isolation of Polyhydroxybutyrate Microbial Producer from Local Egyptian Soil

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Botany and Microbiology Dept., Faculty of Science, Banha University, Egypt

2 Chemistry of Natural and Microbial Products Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt

Abstract

Synthetic plastics' slow breakdown poses a serious risk to the environment; hence it is imperative that eco-friendly alternatives be used in their place. Because of their characteristics as biodegradable thermoplastics, biodegradable polymers like polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs) have lately been identified as polyesters. The biodegradable biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) has a number of uses in industry, agriculture, and medicine. This study's primary goal was to identify and classify an effective producer of PHB from soil samples taken from several locations in Egypt.  The viable colony method of screening with Nile red dye was used to qualitatively assess all of the bacterial isolates for PHB synthesis. An effective PHB-producing bacterium was isolated from soil in the current investigation. Based on the viable colony staining method of screening using Nile red dye, 19 of the 52 distinct species of bacteria that were extracted were determined to be PHB positive. The 17 pinkish colonies that tested positive for Nile red staining under a microscope were bacilli-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria. The other two colonies were yeast as well. The findings showed that the majority of PHB in soil is produced by bacteria (89.5%), followed by yeast (10.5%).

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