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    STUDIA BIOLOGIA - Issue no. 1 / 2019  
         
  Article:   HALOTOLERANT BLACK SEA BACTERIA FOR BIOPLASTICS PRODUCTION.

Authors:  IULIA CHICIUDEAN, IOANA MEREUȚĂ, ELENA LUIZA MIHALACHI, IRINA LASCU, SORIN MARIUS AVRAMESCU, PIOTR JABLONSKI, MIKKEL CHRISTENSEN, HILDE HANSEN, ILEANA STOICA, ANA-MARIA TĂNASE. 		 
       
         
  Abstract:   To address plastic pollution environmental concerns, it is of high importance to develop novel types of biodegradable polymeric materials that can be sustainably and economically produced. One bioplastic class with a great potential of exploitation are polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), natural polymers produced by bacteria, with properties similar to oil-derived polypropylene/polyesters. This study focuses on isolation and characterization of halotolerant bacteria able to produce high amounts of PHAs from low-cost biomass. From a collection of 200 Black Sea bacterial isolates, screened for PHAs production by Red Nile staining and epifluorescence microscopy, strain N16b, identified as Halomonas sp., presented high PHAs production on saline media (up to 20% NaCl) with sugar beet molasses as sole carbon source. GC-MS analysis confirmed that PHAs produced by strain N16b represent more than 50% of the cell mass and were mainly represented by 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate. The effect of osmolytes and pH on bacterial growth was tested using Biolog Phenotype MicroArrays. The presence of the PHA synthase (phaC) gene and ectoine synthase (ectC) gene, involved in the halotolerant phenotype, was confirmed after genome sequencing and annotation (Prokka). Thus, strain N16b a good candidate for bioplastic production from inexpensive industrial side product biomass (e.g. molasses), using salted water in the production process (an important feature for reducing the risk of contamination and for countries with limited fresh water resources).

Keywords: bioplastic, halotolerant bacteria, low-cost biomass polyhydroxyalkanoates. 		 
         
     
         
         
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