• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.277-282
• /
• 1998

The microbial degradation of $poly-{\beta}-hydroxybutyrate$ (PHB) films was studied in soil microco는 incubated at a constant temperature of 2, 10, 20, 30 and $40^{\circ}C$ for up to 49 days. The degradation rate measured through loss of weight was enhanced by incubation at a higher temperature. At the soil temperature $40^{\circ}C$, $poly-{\beta}-hydroxybutyrate$ was rapidly degraded at a decay rate of 3.5% weight loss per day. The degradation of $poly-{\beta}-hydroxybutyrate$ did not affected significantly the chemical properties of soils such as pH and electric conductivity. However, microbial activity of soil in terms of dehydrogenase activity was increased by the degradation of $poly-{\beta}-hydroxybutyrate$.