Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

The weighty accumulation of plastic waste and less effective measures for its management; LDPE degradation has become a serious ecological issue to be dealt with. Tremendous increases in the manufacture and consumption of plastics over recent decades have persistently arisen numerous ecological and economic concerns. Microorganisms are a part of biological process and are thus being implemented. Biodegradation takes place through the action of microbial enzymes and or chemical deterioration associated with living organisms. This event occurs in two steps: The fragmentation of the polymers into lower molecular mass species by means of either abiotic reaction i.e., oxidation, photo-degradation or hydrolysis or biotic reactions i.e., degradations by microorganisms. Step two is followed by bio-assimilation of the polymer fragments by microorganisms and their mineralization. The new strain Pseudomonas citronellolis EMBS027 is addition to the list of LDPE degrading bacterial strains. A good degradation rate of 17.8% has been observed within 4 days of in vitro analysis. The present study thus explores the indigenously surviving individual strains and bacterial consortium for better polyethylene waste management. Hence, the investigation has been designed to make a small contribution to surmount the challenges faced by LDPE non-degradability and to prove the microbial process as a better existing alternative over the recently used processes like recycling, land filling and incineration. Thus, the investigation focused to discover a novel strain which can be further implicated for petroleum-plastic biodegradation.

Biography

Archana Tiwari is presently working as Head of the Department, School of Biotechnology (An Autonomous University Teaching Department) Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (State Technological University of Madhya Pradesh), India. She was the recipient of various prestigious research awards, some representative ones are UGC Post Doc Research Award, Bharat Shishksha Ratan Award, Glory of India Award, etc. She has eight patents on recombinant subunit vaccine to her credit. She has completed national & international research projects funded by reputed global funding agencies and published more than 100 research papers in refereed journals.

Email: archanargpv@gmail.com