Biodegradation of Polyethylene glycol by Bacillus subtilis HTNAKIRS-1 strain: A novel strain for environmental remediation
TL;DR
A novel Bacillus subtilis HTNAKIRS-1 strain is identified, which can degrade PEG 8000, and this strain was studied for its biochemical characterisation along with molecular characterisation, and showed promising results in PEG biodegradation.
Abstract
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a polyether compound derived from petroleum that has high application in industrial manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, medicine, research, and cosmetics. As widespread as the application is, there would be a wide range of environmental pollution as well; its hydrophilic nature and strong affinity for water can promote the biodegradation of PEG. There are very few bacterial species reported for their involvement in PEG biodegradation. In this study we identified a novel Bacillus subtilis HTNAKIRS-1 strain, which can degrade PEG 8000, and this strain was studied for its biochemical characterisation along with molecular characterisation. The growth of the strain in 3% PEG8000 was studied, and their metabolites during the biodegradation were analysed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GCMS). The strain showed promising results in PEG biodegradation, and 26 different metabolites were identified, i.e., aromatic carboxylic acids like phthalic acid, dibutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, aromatic hydrocarbons like naphthalene, glycerol, and its derivatives like 1-monopalmitin, 2-monopalmitin, and glycerol monostearate. These metabolite identifications paved the way to understand the involvement of different metabolic pathways interlinking in biodegrading PEG by the isolate.