Biomedical Letters

Efficiency of halophilic biofilm producing bacteria towards the degradation of plastic materials at optimum temperature

Maham Khan 1, Muhammad Ashraf *1, Wajid Ishaque 1, Muhammad Ahsan 2, Muhammad Sajid 3, Mudasser Habib 1, Ansar Mehmood 1

1 Soil and Environmental Science Division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad, Pakistan

2 Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan

3 Department of Biotechnology, University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan

Abstract

The consumption of plastic has drastically increased leads to the plastic waste and became the global issue. In the present study, the screening of bacterial isolates from saline areas along with their microbial and biofilm efficiency in degradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene plastic materials were estimated at two different temperatures (30°C and 37°C). The soil samples were collected from salt-affected lands for the isolation and characterization of bacterial isolates. The isolated strains were characterized by 16S rRNA. Two bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis and Enterobacter cloacae) were identified through sequencing (BioEditor Sequence Builder) among the selected bacterial isolates. Effective degradation rate has been observed through B. subtilis towards LDPE, HDPE and polypropylene as 18%, 25% and 42%, respectively, through biofilm, while the degradation rate in TSA media were observed as 32%, 30% and 52% respectively, at 37°C. Similarly, E. cloacae degrades the LDPE, HDPE and polypropylene material at 12%, 15% and 30% through biofilm; however, 19%, 18% and 38% degradation rate were observed at 37°C, respectively. Therefore, both bacterial strains (MK2 B. subtilis and MK29 E. cloacae) isolated from salt-affected area showed potential to degrade the plastic materials at optimum temperature of 37°C.