Biofilm Formation and Degradation of Commercially Available Biodegradable Plastic Films by Bacterial Consortiums in Freshwater Environments

• Published in: Microbes and Environments Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 332 - 335
• Main Authors: Morohoshi, Tomohiro, Oi, Taishiro, Aiso, Haruna, Suzuki, Tomohiro, Okura, Tetsuo, Sato, Shunsuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Soil Microbiology / Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Plant Microbe Interactions / Japanese Society for Extremophiles 2018; Japan Science and Technology Agency; the Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology (JSME)/the Japanese Society of Soil Microbiology (JSSM)/the Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology (TSME)/the Japanese Society of Plant Microbe Interactions (JSPMI)
• Subjects: Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Bacteria - metabolism; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Biodegradability; Biodegradable materials; biodegradable plastic; Biodegradable Plastics - metabolism; Biodegradation; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biodiversity; biofilm; Biofilms; Biofilms - growth & development; Bioplastics; Burkholderiales; Degradation; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Fresh Water; Freshwater; Freshwater environments; Incubation period; Inland water environment; microbial community; Next-generation sequencing; poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate); Polyesters - metabolism; Polymers; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Short Communication; Water Microbiology; Water samples; microbial community; poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate); degradation; biodegradable plastic; biofilm
• ISSN: 1342-6311; 1347-4405
• DOI: 10.1264/jsme2.ME18033

We investigated biofilm formation on biodegradable plastics in freshwater samples. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH) was covered by a biofilm after an incubation in freshwater samples. A next generation sequencing analysis of the bacterial communities of biofilms that formed on PHBH films revealed the dominance of the order Burkholderiales. Furthermore, Acidovorax and Undibacterium were the predominant genera in most biofilms. Twenty-five out of 28 PHBH-degrading isolates were assigned to the genus Acidovorax, while the other three were assigned to the genera Undibacterium and Chitinimonas. These results demonstrated that the order Burkholderiales in biofilms functions as a degrader of PHBH films.