Rubber Degrading Strains of Microtetraspora and Dactylosporangium

Abstract

Latex clearing protein (lcp) found in Actinobacterial strains is reportedly critical for the initial oxidative cleavage of poly(cis-1,4-isoprene), the major polymeric unit of rubber. In this study, we screened 940 Actinobacterial strains isolated from various locations in Sarawak on NR latex agar and identified 18 strains from 5 genera that produced clearing zones and contained (latex clearing protein) lcp genes. We report here the first lcp genes from Microtetraspora sp. AC03309 (lcp 1 and lcp2) and Dactylosporangium sp. AC04546 (lcp1, lcp2, lcp3), together with their operon structure. Complete 16S rDNA gene sequence revealed that Dactylosporangium sp. AC04546 is 99% identical to Dactylosporangium sucinum RY35-23 whereas Microtetraspora sp. AC03309 is 98% identical to Microtetraspora glauca IFO14761. Morphological images and the spectrophotometric detection of aldehyde and keto groups in rubber samples incubated with the strains confirm the strains’ ability to degrade rubber-based products.