Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Produced by Bacillus megaterium VB89 Isolated from Nisargruna Biogas Plant

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are naturally occurring biodegradable polymers that can curb the extensive use of polypropylene based plastics. In contrast to chemically synthesized polypropylene plastics, PHAs are biodegradable and thus environmentally safe. PHAs have attracted much attention as biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastics. The present study involves isolation of bacteria from different environments capable of synthesizing PHAs. The bacterium producing highest yield of PHA (0.672 +/- 0.041 g/L) was identified as Bacillus megaterium VB89 by biochemical and molecular techniques such as 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Strain VB89 produced polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as revealed by FTIR and NMR. This PHB had an average molecular weight of 2.89 x 10(5) Da and a polydispersity index of 2.37. Thermal properties of the PHB included a glass transition temperature of 13.97 A degrees C, a melting temperature of 181.74 A degrees C, and a decomposition temperature of 234 A degrees C. All these properties indicated that VB89 produced PHB of high purity and good thermal stability.