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Exploring the Polyethylene Degradation Efficiency of Bacillus vallismortis SK070
Summary
This study evaluates the ability of Bacillus bacterial species to degrade polyethylene, one of the most widely produced and persistent plastic polymers. Laboratory experiments assess degradation efficiency under controlled conditions, examining changes in polymer mass, surface structure, and chemical composition. The findings support the potential of Bacillus strains as candidates for biological plastic remediation strategies.
In the rapid growing world, plastic consumption increased on a large scale, intensifying environmental pollution. As conventional waste management approaches prove inadequate, microbial degradation emerges as a promising and innovative solution. This study investigates the microbial communities in soil contaminated with plastic waste from a dump yard in Jawahar Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana. A composite soil sample, SKP007, was analysed using 16S V3-V4 region metagenomic sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Phylum-level analysis revealed predominant groups including Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and Firmicutes, with Bacillus, Rubrobacter, Streptomyces, and Steroidobacter as dominant genera. Following a 14-day enrichment period, six bacterial isolates were screened for plastic degradation. Isolate SK070 exhibited the highest plastic degradation efficiency, with a clearance zone diameter of 4.2 ± 0.3 mm and a degradation rate of 3.95 ± 0.06%. Morphological characterization of SK070 revealed rod-shaped bacteria with blunt ends. Molecular analysis through 16S rRNA sequencing identified SK070 as Bacillus vallismortis, showing 99.99% similarity. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed its close relationship with Bacillus subtilis. This study highlights Bacillus vallismortis SK070 as a promising candidate for plastic bioremediation, warranting further investigation into its optimization and genomic features.