Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are naturally occurring polymers that are generated as a source of energy by a variety of bacterial organisms. They can be used to replace petroleum-based plastics in a sustainable way. Bacillus megaterium JHA, a gram-positive bacterium isolated from oil-contaminated soil, demonstrated the ability to accumulate high levels of PHA on glucose as a substrate. The biopolymer was extracted from the above strain using a solvent extraction method (chloroform) to obtain a thin film of PHA in the current sample. Analytical techniques such as confocal microscopy, high performance thin layer chromatography, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and gel permeation chromatography were used to characterise this film. These techniques revealed a functional and chemical similarity between PHA and the standard molecule, Polyhydroxybutryrate (PHB), suggesting that it is a PHB derivative. A differential scanning calorimeter and thermo-gravimetric analysis were used to assess the biopolymer’s thermal properties. With a polydispersity index of 1.7, the biopolymer’s weight-average molecular weight and number-average molecular mass were determined to be 43.47kDa and 25.53kDa, respectively. It also revealed a melting temperature of 163.19°C, as well as a thermal decomposition temperature of 285.68°C. The biopolymer’s IC50 value was measured as 0.311 mg/mL using the MTT assay, indicating that it is suitable for a variety of biomedical applications. Scanning electron microscopy was used to further investigate the biopolymer’s biodegradability. Apart from the analytical characteristics listed above, the polymer’s unique attribute was its ability to degrade fully in compost soil under facultative conditions in 60-90 days.
Author(s) Details
Joyline Mascarenhas
Department of Microbiology, Wilson College, Mumbai 400007, Maharashtra, India.
K. Aruna
Department of Microbiology, Wilson College, Mumbai 400007, Maharashtra, India.
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