Isolation Purification and Screening of Biodegradable Polymer PHB Producing Cyanobacteria from Marine and Fresh Water Resources

Fifteen cyanobacteria species were isolated from fresh water and marine water resources from different parts of Tamil Nadu, India. Based on their morphological features they were identified through microscopic observations. The isolates were then screened for PHB production using nile red staining. It was found eleven of them were capable of producing PHB in their native forms. Further, PHB quantitative analysis by HPLC showed marine Phormidium sp with 7.60±0.005 mg/L (7.6%) of PHB, followed by Synechococcus sp with 4.59±0.012 mg/L (4.5%), Synechocystis sp with 3.74±0.007 mg/L (3.7%) and Anabaena sp with 2.31±0.012 mg/L (2.3%) of fresh water isolates. Among the isolates, Phormidium sp (VIT-BMN3) isolated from marine environments is reporting first time for its PHB production. In addition, biodegradable polymer extracted in hot chloroform is analysed by FTIR which showed strong bands near 1725 cm , 2977 cm and 3437 cm wave 11 1 numbers and confirms the presence of ester carbonyl group (C=O), methylene C-H vibration and terminal OH group of PHB, respectively. Overall, nile red staining, HPLC analysis and FTIR spectrums obtained for all cultures conforms the PHB production by our isolates in their native conditions. Further studies of media optimization for increased PHB production are under the process.