Screening and characterisation of bioplastics producing bacteria isolated from oil contaminated soils of Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, India

Objective: To screen the high yielding PHB producing bacterial strains and its characterization by phenotypic methods and PHB production was optimized by using different carbon sources, different levels of pH and temperature. Methods: The oil contaminated soils of Virudhunagar town were chosen for the isolation of PHB producing bacterial species. The bacterial isolates were stained by Sudan Black B method for observing the presence of PHB granules and further confirmation by UV and FTIR analysis. The PHB accumulations in bacterial isolates were done by UV-Spectrophotometric analysis. The maximum PHB production was optimized by varying pH, temperature and carbon sources used in the production medium. Results: From the microscopic observations of the individual isolates, seven bacterial isolates were seen by the PHB granules inside the cell. The UV results interpret maximum amount 1052 microgram/ml of PHB by the second bacterial isolate. FTIR confirmed C=O group in the extracted PHB from production media. Also high yield was observed in at pH 9, 37 0 C and starch. Conclusions: These PHB have potential candidate for some application in packaging and biomedical material production in the form of drug carriers.