Journal Article

Genomic analysis and potential polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production from Bacillus strains isolated from extreme environments in Mexico

Ríos Reyes, Alvaro, Ríos Sosa, Alvaro, Prado Barragán, Lilia A., Aréchiga Carvajal, Elva T.

2025

Overview

Background Plastic pollution is a significant environmental problem caused by its high resistance to degradation. One potential solution is polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a microbial biodegradable polymer. Mexico has great uncovered microbial diversity with high potential for biotechnological applications. The best polymer producers tend to be isolated from environments that require survival adaptations from microorganisms, the high-producing Bacillus cereus strain saba.zh comes from refinery wastewater, the costs of production have been a limiting factor for biopolymer production, and one of the focuses of interest has been finding novel strains with better production or singular traits that help in industrial processes. Results The isolates were taxonomically classified as Bacillus cereus MSF4 and Bacillus inaquosorum MSD1 from Mina, Nuevo Leon; B. cereus S07C; and Paenibacillis dendritiformis from the active volcano “El Chichonal” on Chiapas. The strains had growth temperatures ranging from 35 to 50 °C and pH tolerance values ranging from 3 to 9. The best PHB-producing strain, B. cereus MSF4 , produced 0.43 g/kg PHB on orange peels, followed by B. inaquosorum MSD1 at 0.40 g/kg, B. cereus S07C at 0.23 g/kg and P. dendritiformis at 0.26 g/kg. Conclusions The findings of this study affirm the potential of the Mexican isolated strains as PHB-producing organisms, enabling further studies to test their viability as industrial producers. The ability of P. dendritiformis and B. inaquosorum to synthetize PHB was also confirmed by the observations made providing novel evidence to consider these species as potential producers.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Bacillus / Bacillus - classification / Bacillus - genetics / Bacillus - isolation & purification / Bacillus - metabolism / Bacillus cereus / Bacillus cereus - genetics / Bacillus cereus - isolation & purification / Bacillus cereus - metabolism / Bacillus i naquosorum / Bacteria / Biodegradation / Biological Microscopy / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biopolymers / Biotechnology / Chemical properties / Deserts / Dry cell weight / Environmental degradation / Enzymes / Extreme environments / Genes / Genome / Genome, Bacterial / Genomes / Genomic analysis / Genomics / High resistance / Hydroxybutyrates - metabolism / Identification and classification / Life Sciences / Mexico / Microbiological research / Microbiological synthesis / Microbiology / Microorganisms / Morphology / Mycology / Paenibacillus dendritiformis / Parasitology / Phylogeny / Physiological aspects / Plastic pollution / Polyesters - metabolism / Polyhydroxybutyrate / Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) / Polyhydroxybutyrates / Polyhydroxybutyric acid / Polymers / Production processes / Refineries / Refinery wastes / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics / Strains (organisms) / Temperature / Virology / Volcanoes