Biosynthesis and accumulation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)-polyethylene glycol, a hybrid co-polymer by endophytic Bacillus cereus RCL 02.

Co-polymerization of microbial polyesters, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), with synthetic polymers has become an established and promising tool in the recent past for improving the material and biological properties of the biopolyesters. Bacillus cereus RCL 02, a leaf endophytic bacterium of the oleaginous plant Ricinus communis L., has been reported to produce a significant amount of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV)] under batch cultivation. The present study demonstrates the synthesis and accumulation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)-polyethylene glycol [P(3HB-co-3HV)-PEG] co-polymer by the isolate RCL 02 in glucose, valeric acid, and PEG-200 supplemented mineral salts medium following dual-step cultivation. The identity of P(3HB-co-3HV)-PEG co-polymer so produced has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) spectroscopic studies, and the purified co-polymer was found to be composed of 3.2 mol% ethylene glycol (EG) and 8.4 mol% 3HV along with 3HB. While the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that P(3HB-co-3HV)-PEG films degraded at 269.32 °C, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) recorded the melting peak of the co-polymer at 163.8 °C. This study emphasized to explore the endophytic Bacillus spp. for production of P(3HB-co-3HV)-PEG co-polymers with improved material properties which may find possible application for biomedical purposes.