title: Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Produced by Bacillus megaterium VB89 Isolated from Nisargruna Biogas Plant.
abstract: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are naturally occurring biodegradable polymers that can curb the extensive use of polypropylene based plastics. In contrast to chemically synthesized polypropylene plastics, PHAs are biodegradable and thus environmentally safe. PHAs have attracted much attention as biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastics. The present study involves isolation of bacteria from different environments capable of synthesizing PHAs. The bacterium producing highest yield of PHA (0.672 ± 0.041 g/L) was identified as Bacillus megaterium VB89 by biochemical and molecular techniques such as 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Strain VB89 produced polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as revealed by FTIR and NMR. This PHB had an average molecular weight of 2.89 × 105Da and a polydispersity index of 2.37. Thermal properties of the PHB included a glass transition temperature of 13.97 °C, a melting temperature of 181.74 °C, and a decomposition temperature of 234 °C. All these properties indicated that VB89 produced PHB of high purity and good thermal stability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007, India.
authors.forename: Vishakha
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baikar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007, India.|Department of Environmental Science, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007, India.
authors.forename: Ashwini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rane
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411007, India. writetodeopurkar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rajendra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deopurkar
mesh_terms: D001410:Bacillus megaterium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates
keywords: Bacillus megaterium; Biodegradable polymer; FTIR; GPC; NMR; Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB); Thermal properties