Screening and identification of a polyurethane-degrading bacterium G-11 and its plastic degradation characteristics.

Zhitong JIANG; Xue CHEN; Jinhui LEI; Huizhen XUE; Bo ZHANG; Xiaofan XU; Huijing GENG; Zhoukun LI; Xin YAN; Weiliang DONG; Hui CAO; Zhongli CUI

Return

Screening and identification of a polyurethane-degrading bacterium G-11 and its plastic degradation characteristics.

Author: Zhitong JIANG ¹ ; Xue CHEN ¹ ; Jinhui LEI ¹ ; Huizhen XUE ¹ ; Bo ZHANG ¹ ; Xiaofan XU ¹ ; Huijing GENG ¹ ; Zhoukun LI ¹ ; Xin YAN ¹ ; Weiliang DONG ² ; Hui CAO ¹ ; Zhongli CUI ¹
Author Information

1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environment Microbiology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, China.
2. State Key Laboratory of Material Chemical Engineering, College of Biology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211899, Jiangsu, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Amycolatopsis; biodegradation; plastic pollution; polyurethane
MeSH: Plastics/metabolism*; Polyurethanes/chemistry*; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Bacteria/genetics*; Biodegradation, Environmental
From: Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2023;39(5):1963-1975
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Polyurethane (PUR) plastics is widely used because of its unique physical and chemical properties. However, unreasonable disposal of the vast amount of used PUR plastics has caused serious environmental pollution. The efficient degradation and utilization of used PUR plastics by means of microorganisms has become one of the current research hotspots, and efficient PUR degrading microbes are the key to the biological treatment of PUR plastics. In this study, an Impranil DLN-degrading bacteria G-11 was isolated from used PUR plastic samples collected from landfill, and its PUR-degrading characteristics were studied. Strain G-11 was identified as Amycolatopsis sp. through 16S rRNA gene sequence alignment. PUR degradation experiment showed that the weight loss rate of the commercial PUR plastics upon treatment of strain G-11 was 4.67%. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the surface structure of G-11-treated PUR plastics was destroyed with an eroded morphology. Contact angle and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) showed that the hydrophilicity of PUR plastics increased along with decreased thermal stability upon treatment by strain G-11, which were consistent with the weight loss and morphological observation. These results indicated that strain G-11 isolated from landfill has potential application in biodegradation of waste PUR plastics.