The current study focused on an environment friendly method for degradation of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using bacteria. A total of 36 bacterial strains were isolated from waste disposal sites in which six strains showed potential biodegradation activities. In this study, we reported 2 new strains i.e. Bacillus siamensis and Bacillus wiedmannii for LDPE degradation. The percent weight loss of LDPE films for isolates was; B. siamensis (8.46 ± 0.3%), B. cereus (6.33 ± 0.2%), B. wiedmannii (5.39 ± 0.3%), B. subtilis (3.75 ± 0.1%), P. aeruginosa (1.15 ± 0.1%) and A. iwoffii (0.76 ± 0.1%) after 90 d of incubation. The LDPE films showed slight surface disruption as observed in Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) showed formation of typical carbonyl peaks which were markedly reduced after incubation as measured by carbonyl index. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis presented an increase in percent crystallinity and there was no apparent change in total carbon percentage. Different genes responsible for degradation of LDPE like Laccase (167 bp), Alk1 (330 bp) and Alk2 (185 bp) were identified in bacterial isolates and further sequenced. The low degradation values in this study indicate that LDPE degradation is a slow, continuous and time dependent process.
Plastics are available in different shapes nowadays in order to enhance the living standard. But unfortunately, most of these plastics are synthetic in nature that is why they show resistance to physical and chemical degradation processes and enhance environmental hazards. The aim of the present research study was to isolate and identify beneficial fungal species from soil that have the capability to degrade plastic. Soil samples from a waste disposal site at Peshawar district were diluted and inoculated on sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) for fungus isolation. After isolation, the identifications of fungal species were done using standard identification techniques such as colony morphology and microscopic examination. The isolated fungal species that were identified were Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium, white rot, and brown rot fungi. After isolation, a degradation experiment was conducted to evaluate the capability of fungal isolates towards degradation of plastic. For this purpose, a 2 cm2 plastic piece was treated with fungal isolates for one month in a liquid culture system. The weight loss percentage was estimated at 22.9%, 16.1%, 18.4%, and 22.7% by Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus flavus, brown rot, and white rot, respectively, which was confirmed by the Fourier transform analysis. The obtained FTIR peaks revealed the C–H bond deformation in alkenes, ketones, and esters. It has been concluded from the study that fungal species play a significant role in the degradation of synthetic plastic which can be used in bioreactors in future studies for the degradation of complex plastic materials.
The goal of this study was to find E. coli, a prevalent pathogen that causes food-borne illnesses, in chicken samples (n = 500) collected from three districts in KhyberPukhtunkhwa: Mardan, Swabi, and Swat. The E. coli isolates were identified by Gram staining, API strips and Universal Stress Protein. A total of 412 samples tested positive for E. coli and were sensitive to MEM, TZP, and FOS as evidenced by disc diffusion method. The isolates were resistant to TE, NOR, and NA with statistically significant results (P≤0.05). The isolates showed the presence of different antibiotic resistance genes; blaOXA-1, blaCTX-M15, blaTEM-1, QnrS, TetA, AAC, AAD, Sul1 and Sul2. The results revealed mutations in blaOXA-1 gene (H81Q), blaTEM-1 (C108Y, T214A, K284E and P301S), QnrS (H95R) and Sul2 (E66A). The findings of this study may be helpful in better management of E. coli infections by physicians.
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