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Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer synthesis by marine bacteria of the Malaysian coral triangle region and mining for PHA synthase genes
Alsaadi, A.; Ganesen, S.S.K.; Amelia, T.S.M.; Moanis, R.; Peeters, E.; Vigneswari, S.; Bhubalan, K. (2022). Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer synthesis by marine bacteria of the Malaysian coral triangle region and mining for PHA synthase genes. Microorganisms 10(10): 2057. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10102057
In: Microorganisms. MDPI: Basel. e-ISSN 2076-2607, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Porifera [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    bioplastic; PHA synthase; phaC; sediment; marine sponge; diversity

Authors  Top 
  • Alsaadi, A., more
  • Ganesen, S.S.K.
  • Amelia, T.S.M.
  • Moanis, R., more
  • Peeters, E., more
  • Vigneswari, S.
  • Bhubalan, K.

Abstract
    Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a biodegradable and plastic-like biopolymer, has been receiving research and industrial attention due to severe plastic pollution, resource depletion, and global waste issues. This has spurred the isolation and characterisation of novel PHA-producing strains through cultivation and non-cultivation approaches, with a particular interest in genes encoding PHA synthesis pathways. Since sea sponges and sediment are marine benthic habitats known to be rich in microbial diversity, sponge tissues (Xestospongia muta and Aaptos aaptos) and sediment samples were collected in this study from Redang and Bidong islands located in the Malaysian Coral Triangle region. PHA synthase (phaC) genes were identified from sediment-associated bacterial strains using a cultivation approach and from sponge-associated bacterial metagenomes using a non-cultivation approach. In addition, phylogenetic diversity profiling was performed for the sponge-associated bacterial community using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (16S rRNA) amplicon sequencing to screen for the potential presence of PHA-producer taxa. A total of three phaC genes from the bacterial metagenome of Aaptos and three phaC genes from sediment isolates (Sphingobacterium mizutaii UMTKB-6, Alcaligenes faecalis UMTKB-7, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus UMTKB-8) were identified. Produced PHA polymers were shown to be composed of 5C to nC monomers, with previously unreported PHA-producing ability of the S. mizutaii strain, as well as a 3-hydroxyvalerate-synthesising ability without precursor addition by the A. calcoaceticus strain.

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