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Phyllosphere yeasts rapidly break down biodegradable plastics
AMB Express 2011, 1:44 doi:10.1186/2191-0855-1-44
Hiroko K Kitamoto (kitamoto@affrc.go.jp)
Yukiko Shinozaki (shinoyk@affrc.go.jp)
Xiao-hong Cao (cao-xiaohong@docomo.ne.jp)
Tomotake Morita (morita-tomotake@aist.go.jp)
Masaaki Konishi (konishi-masaaki@jamstec.go.jp)
Kanako Tago (tago@affrc.go.jp)
Hideyuki Kajiwara (kajiwara@affrc.go.jp)
Motoo Koitabashi (koita@affrc.go.jp)
Shigenobu Yoshida (yoshige@affrc.go.jp)
Takashi Watanabe (takawata@affrc.go.jp)
Yuka Sameshima-Yamashita (yamashita@affrc.go.jp)
Toshiaki Nakajima-Kambe (toshi@sakura.cc.tsukuba.ac.jp)
Seiya Tsushima (seya@affrc.go.jp)
ISSN 2191-0855
Article type Original
Submission date 6 October 2011
Acceptance date 29 November 2011
Publication date 29 November 2011
Article URL http://www.amb-express.com/content/1/1/44
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AMB Express
© 2011 Kitamoto et al. ; licensee Springer.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Phyllosphere yeasts rapidly break down biodegradable plastics
Hiroko K. Kitamoto,1* Yukiko Shinozaki,1 Xiao-hong Cao,1 Tomotake Morita,2 Masaaki Konishi,2,5
Kanako Tago,1 Hideyuki Kajiwara,3 Motoo Koitabashi,1 Shigenobu Yoshida, 1 Takashi Watanabe,1
Yuka Sameshima-Yamashita,1 Toshiaki Nakajima-Kambe,4 and Seiya Tsushima1
1 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES), 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
305-8604 Japan
2 Research Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Chemistry, National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 5-2, Higashi 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
305-8565, Japan
3 National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
305-8602, Japan
4 Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8572
Ibaraki, Japan4
5 Present address: Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and
Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15, Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
*Corresponding author. Mailing address: 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604 Japan. Tel.
and Fax: 81-29-838-8355; E-mail: kitamoto@affrc.go.jp
Email addresses:
HKK: kitamoto@affrc.go.jp
YS: shinoyk@affrc.go.jp
XC: cao-xiaohong@docomo.ne.jp
TM: morita-tomotake@aist.go.jp
MK konishi-masaaki@jamstec.go.jp
KT tago@affrc.go.jp
HK kajiwara@affrc.go.jp
MK koita@affrc.go.jp
SY yoshige@affrc.go.jp
TW takawata@affrc.go.jp
YS-Y yamashita@affrc.go.jp
TN-K toshi@sakura.cc.tsukuba.ac.jp
ST seya@affrc.go.jp
Abstract
The use of biodegradable plastics can reduce the accumulation of environmentally persistent
plastic wastes. The rate of degradation of biodegradable plastics depends on environmental conditions
and is highly variable. Techniques for achieving more consistent degradation are needed. However, only
a few microorganisms involved in the degradation process have been isolated so far from the
environment. Here, we show that Pseudozyma spp. yeasts, which are common in the phyllosphere and
are easily isolated from plant surfaces, displayed strong degradation activity on films made from
poly-butylene succinate or poly-butylene succinate-co-adipate. Strains of P. antarctica isolated from
leaves and husks of paddy rice displayed strong degradation activity on these films at 30°C. The type
strain, P. antarctica JCM 10317, and Pseudozyma spp. strains from phyllosphere secreted a
biodegradable plastic–degrading enzyme with a molecular mass of about 22 kDa. Reliable source of
biodegradable plastic–degrading microorganisms are now in our hands.
Key words; Pseudozyma, Biodegradable plastic, Phyllosphere, Yeast