The global demand of bioplastics has lead to an exponential increase in their production commercially. Hence, biodegradable
nature needs to be evaluated in various ecosystems viz. air, water, soil and other environmental conditions to avoid the
polymeric waste accumulation in the nature. In this paper, we investigated the progressive response of two indigenously developed
bacterial consortia, i.e., consortium-I (C-I: Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb10, Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb11 and Bacillus
sp. strain Rb18), and consortium-II (C-II: Lysinibacillus sp. strain Rb1, Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb13 and Pseudomonas sp.
strain Rb19), against biodegradation behavior of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) film composites, under natural soil ecosystem
(in net house). The biodegraded films recovered after 6 and 9 months of incubation were analyzed through Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to determine the variations in chemical and morphological
parameters (before and after incubation). Noticeable changes in the bond intensity, surface morphology and conductivity
were found when PHB composites were treated with C-II. These changes were drastic in case of blends in comparison to
copolymer. The potential isolates not only survived, but, also, there was a significant increase in bacterial diversity during
whole period of incubation. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report which described the biodegradation potential
of Lysinibacillus sp. as a part of C-II with Pseudomonas sp. against PHB film composites.

EB00000002755K

Available

• Comparative Response of Indigenously Developed Bacterial Consortia on Progressive Degradation of Polyhydroxybutyrate Film Composites