• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.365-374
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• 2008

Plastics are comparatively new polymeric materials that are manufactured by chemical synthesis, making them different from natural materials such as wood, paper, stone, metal, and glass. Due to a wide range of properties, including processing capabilities and duration, plastics have become rapidly ubiquitous, being used in all industries, and have improved our quality of life. However, it is true that plastics cause environmental contamination problems that have become important social issues, such as environmental hormone leakage due to incineration or reclamation, difficulty in securing reclamation sites, and deadly poisonous dioxin generated by the incomplete incineration of waste plastic materials. To solve these problems, it is urgent to develop and commercialize degradable plastics that can be stably and conveniently used just as general plastics, and that are easily decomposed by sunlight, soil microbes, and heat generated from reclaimed land after use. This review presents recent worldwide trends in the development and marketing of environmentally degradable plastics.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 2019

Lichens are generally known as self-sufficient, symbiotic life-forms between fungi and algae/cyanobacteria, and they also provide shelter for a wide range of beneficial bacteria. Currently, bacterial-derived biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is grabbing the attention of many researchers as a promising alternative to non-degradable plastics. This study was conducted to develop a new method of PHA production using unexplored lichen-associated bacteria, which can simultaneously degrade two ubiquitous industrial toxins, anthracene and naphthalene. Here, 49 lichen-associated bacteria were isolated and tested for PHA synthesis. During the GC-MS analysis, a potential strain of EL19 was found to be a 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3-HHx) accumulator and identified as Pseudomonas sp. based on the 16S rRNA sequencing. GC analysis revealed that EL19 was capable of accumulating 30.62% and 19.63% of 3-HHx from naphthalene and anthracene, respectively, resulting in significant degradation of 98% and 96% of naphthalene and anthracene, respectively, within seven days. Moreover, the highly expressed phaC gene verified the genetic basis of $PHA_{mcl}$ production under nitrogen starvation conditions. Thus, this study strongly supports the hypothesis that lichen-associated bacteria can detoxify naphthalene and anthracene, store energy for extreme conditions, and probably help the associated lichen to live in extreme conditions. So far, this is the first investigation of lichen-associated bacteria that might utilize harmful toxins as feasible supplements and convert anthracene and naphthalene into eco-friendly 3-HHx. Implementation of the developed method would reduce the production cost of $PHA_{mcl}$ while removing harmful waste products from the environment.