Production and characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoic acid from Bacillus thuringiensis using different carbon substrates.

Polyhydroxyalkanoic acids (PHA) are biodegradable microbially synthesised polymers which can act as alternatives to conventional petrochemical based plastics. Bacterial isolates from soil and sewage samples were screened for the ability to accumulate PHA using Sudan Black B dye, and growth conditions of the best PHA accumulating bacterium was optimized. The PHA produced was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy.