Accumulation of non-biodegradable plastics leads to increase in land and water pollution. Polyolefins including polyethylene and polypropylene are the major plastics to be dumped in the environment and due to their recalcitrant nature persist in the environment. The hydrophobicity, high molecular weight, chemical and structural composition of these polymers hinders their biodegradation. In this review current research that have been performed to understand the abiotic mechanism of the degradation process, and various physical, chemical and biochemical approaches that can be adopted to enhance their biodegradation are discussed. Genetic engineering approaches to enhance the performance of the microorganism or computational techniques to simulate the degradation pathways could be the future to speed up the degradation of these polymers.
Aims: To isolate and characterize the biosurfactant‐producing micro‐organism from petroleum‐contaminated soil as well as to determine the biochemical properties of the biosurfactant.
Methods and Results: A novel rhamnolipid‐producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (GenBank accession number ) strain was isolated from a petroleum‐contaminated soil. Surface active compound was separated by solvent extraction of the acidified culture supernatant. The extract was able to reduce the surface tension of water from 72 to 44 mN m−1 at a critical micelle concentration of 11·27 ± 1·85 mg l−1. It showed better activity (based on microdilution method) against Gram‐positive (≤ 31 mg ml−1) bacteria and filamentous fungi (≤ 50 mg ml−1) than Gram‐negative bacteria (≥ 125 mg ml−1) with mild toxicity (HC50– 38 ± 8·22 μg ml−1) to red blood cells. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the presence of aliphatic chain, hydroxyl groups, ester and glycosidic bonds. Presence of nineteen rhamnolipid homologues with variation in chain length and saturation was revealed from liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the isolated biosurfactant has a novel combination of rhamnolipid congeners with unique properties.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study provides a biosurfactant, which can be used as a biocontrol agent against phytopathogens (Fusarium proliferatum NCIM 1105 and Aspergillus niger NCIM 596) and exploited for biomedical applications.
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