title: Historical and recent achievements in the field of microbial degradation of natural and synthetic rubber.
abstract: This review intends to provide an overview of historical and recent achievements in studies of microbial degradation of natural and synthetic rubber. The main scientific focus is on the key enzymes latex-clearing protein (Lcp) from the Gram-positive Streptomyces sp. strain K30 and rubber oxygenase A (RoxA) from the Gram-negative Xanthomonas sp. strain 35Y, which has been hitherto the only known rubber-degrading bacterium that does not belong to the actinomycetes. We also emphasize the importance of knowledge of biodegradation in industrial and environmental biotechnology for waste natural rubber disposal.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yikmis
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinbüchel
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D001711:Biotransformation; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D012408:Rubber / Q000378:metabolism*; D013302:Streptomyces / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012408:Rubber