Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the biodiversity of PHB producing bacteria isolated from soils where fruit and vegetable are cultivated (onion, grape, olive, mulberry and plum) in Aydın providence. Morphological, cultural, biochemical, and molecular methods were used for bacteria identification. These isolated bacteria were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing and using BLAST. The following bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (6), Bacillus cereus (8), Bacillus anthrachis (1), Bacillus circulans (1), Bacillus weihenstephanensis (1), Pseudomonas putida (1), Azotobacter chroococcum (1), Brevibacterium frigoritolerans (1), Burkholderia sp. (1), Staphylococcus epidermidis (1), Streptomyces exfoliatus (1), Variovorax paradoxus (1) were found. The Maximum Likelihood method was used to produce a molecular phylogenetic analysis and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. These bacteria can produce polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) which is an organic polymer with commercial potential as a biodegradable thermoplastic. PHB can be used instead of petrol derivated non-degradable plastics. For this reason, PHB producing microorganisms are substantial in industry.

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