Abstract / Excerpt:

Styrene, a chemical chiefly used in the production of resins and polysterene plastics, is an extremely toxic compound that poses a threat to the environment and public health. Degradation of styrene can be facilitated by microorganisms commonly found in soil where styrene wastes are dumped. This study aims to detect the StyA gene in total soil DNA to confirm the presence of styrene-degrading organisms in the dumpsite soil - and to isolate Bacillus megaterium, a suspected styrene degrading soil bacterium. The StyA gene that was amplified from the total soil DNA produced an amplicon which was approximately the same with the StyA amplicon of a related study by Peso-Santos, hence, indicating that the consortia of microorganisms in the soil samples had styrene degrading-capabilities. Isolation of B. megaterium - using different morphological, microbiological and biochemical tests produced 10 candidate isolates. From these 10 candidate isolates, one isolate was confirmed to be B. megaterium. Furthermore, molecular detection of StyA gene from B. megaterium's DNA was confirmed. This result indicates that B.megaterium has the capability to degrade styrene and contributes to the styrene-degrading ability of the bacterial consortia in the dumpsite soil.

Info

Source Institution	Ateneo de Davao University
Unit	Natural Science and Mathematics
Authors	Agbayani, Shareen Joyce V., Malapit, Honey Jane C., Mirhan, John Lorenz G.
Page Count	64
Place of Publication	Davao City
Original Publication Date	March 1, 2015
Tags	Biology, Feasibility Studies

Preview