4.4 Article

Novel Polyhydroxybutyrate-Degrading Activity of the Microbulbifer Genus as Confirmed by Microbulbifer sp. SOL03 from the Marine Environment

Journal

JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 32, Issue 1, Pages 27-36

Publisher

KOREAN SOC MICROBIOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY
DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2109.09005

Keywords

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate); bioplastics; biodegradation

Funding

  1. Konkuk University Researcher Fund in 2021
  2. National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) [NRF-2019R1F1A1058805, NRF-2019M3E6A1103979]
  3. R&D Program of MOTIE/KEIT [20009508, 20016324]
  4. Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea [PJ0154982021]

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This study identified a strain, Microbulbifer sp. SOL03, with poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) degradation activity and determined the optimal degradation conditions to be a temperature of 37℃, the addition of 3% NaCl, and no additional carbon sources. The strain achieved a PHB degradation yield of almost 97% after 10 days.
Ever since bioplastics were globally introduced to a wide range of industries, the disposal of used products made with bioplastics has become an issue inseparable from their application. Unlike petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics can be completely decomposed into water and carbon dioxide by microorganisms in a relatively short time, which is an advantage. However, there is little information on the specific degraders and accelerating factors for biodegradation. To elucidate a new strain for biodegrading poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), we screened out one PHB-degrading bacterium, Microbulbifer sp. SOL03, which is the first reported strain from the Microbulbifer genus to show PHB degradation activity, although Microbulbifer species are known to be complex carbohydrate degraders found in high-salt environments. In this study, we evaluated its biodegradability using solid- and liquid-based methods in addition to examining the changes in physical properties throughout the biodegradation process. Furthermore, we established the optimal conditions for biodegradation with respect to temperature, salt concentration, and additional carbon and nitrogen sources; accordingly, a temperature of 37oC with the addition of 3% NaCl without additional carbon sources, was determined to be optimal. In summary, we found that Microbulbifer sp. SOL03 showed a PHB degradation yield of almost 97% after 10 days. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the potent bioplastic degradation activity of Microbulbifer sp., and we believe that it can contribute to the development of bioplastics from application to disposal.

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