Search results for "Biodegradation"
showing 10 items of 317 documents
Evaluation of biodegradability on polyaspartamide-polylactic acid based nanoparticles by chemical hydrolysis studies
2015
Here, the synthesis of two graft copolymers based on ?,?-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-D,L-aspartamide (PHEA) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA), the O-(2-aminoethyl)-O'-galactosyl polyethylene glycol (GAL-PEG-NH2) or the methoxypolyethylene glycol amine (H2N-PEG-OCH3) is described. Starting from the obtained PHEA-PLA-PEG-GAL and PHEA-PLA-PEG copolymers, polymeric nanoparticles were prepared by high pressure homogenization-solvent evaporation method. To demonstrate their biodegradability as a function of the matrix composition, a chemical stability study was carried out until 21 days by incubating systems in two media mimicking physiological compartments (pH 7.4 and pH 5.5). The degradability of both nan…
Biodegradation paths of Mater-Bi®/kenaf biodegradable composites
2013
Composites obtained from biodegradable polymers and natural–organic fillers are attracting increasing interest, thanks to the environmental advantages they promise. On the other hand, the real biodegradation performance of a biodegradable polymer/natural organic filler composite should be assessed by performing specific biodegradation tests. These are often carried out under laboratory conditions, but more realistic conditions should be taken into account. In this work, a systematic study on the biodegradation of kenaf fiber-filled Mater-Bi® composites in different environments is presented, and some interesting parameters for the understanding of the optimum way to obtain a fast degradatio…
Nonthrombogenic, Biodegradable Elastomeric Polyurethanes with Variable Sulfobetaine Content
2014
For applications where degradable polymers are likely to have extended blood contact, it is often important for these materials to exhibit high levels of thromboresistance. This can be achieved with surface modification approaches, but such modifications may be transient with degradation. Alternatively, polymer design can be altered such that the bulk polymer is thromboresistant and this is maintained with degradation. Toward this end a series of biodegradable, elastic polyurethanes (PESBUUs) containing different zwitterionic sulfobetaine (SB) content were synthesized from a polycaprolactone-diol (PCL-diol):SB-diol mixture (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100) reacted with diisocyanatobuta…
Relevant factors for the eco-design of polylactide/sisal biocomposites to control biodegradation in soil in an end-of-life scenario
2017
[EN] The eco-design considers the factors to prepare biocomposites under an end-of-life scenario. PLA/sisal biocomposites were obtained from amorphous polylactide and sisal loadings of 10, 20 and 30 wt% with and without coupling agent, and subjected to biodegradation in soil according to standard IS0846. Mass loss, differential scanning calorimetry and size-exclusion chromatography were used for monitoring biodegradation. A statistical factorial analysis based on the molar mass M-n, and crystallinity degree X-c pointed out the relevance and interaction of amount of fibre and use of coupling agent with the time of burial in soil., During the preparation of biocomposites, chain scission provo…
Polylactide-based self-reinforced composites biodegradation: Individual and combined influence of temperature, water and compost
2018
[EN] Self-reinforced polymer composites (SRCs) are proposed as a suitable alternative for composite development, based in the combination of a polymeric matrix and a polymeric fibre made of the same polymer. SRCs based in polylactide (PLA) could be fully biodegradable and their valorisation routes could presumably be assimilated to those for neat PEA. In this sense, the aim of this study was to develop new self-reinforced PLA-based composites and ascertain their biodegradability. For this purpose, PLA-based SRCs were obtained through a thermo-compression procedure and their biodegradability corroborated under standard conditions (ISO 20200). Moreover, a deep study of the effect of the diffe…
Degradation of simazine by microorganisms isolated from soils of Spanish olive fields.
2005
Special Issue: Pesticides, Microbial Functions and Biodiversity in Soil; The capability of the microbial flora isolated from an olive field soil from Andalusia to mineralize simazine has been analyzed. From this soil, a group of bacteria capable of degrading 60 mg simazine litre-1 in less than a week has been isolated. These microorganisms showed a low capacity for degrading this herbicide to carbon dioxide. When total DNA was isolated from this group of bacteria, we were able to detect by PCR the presence of only the atzC and the trzN genes. Some components of this bacterial population have been identified by sequencing of specific fragments from bacterial 16S rDNA, including Variovorax sp…
Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from the gut of the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis.
2002
Aims: To demonstrate the occurrence of cellulolytic bacteria in the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis. Methods and Results: Applying aerobic cultivation conditions we isolated 119 cellulolytic strains from the gut of Z. angusticollis, which were assigned to 23 groups of aerobic, facultatively anaerobic or microaerophilic cellulolytic bacteria. 16S rDNA restriction fragment pattern and partial 16S rDNA sequence analysis, as well as numerical taxonomy, were used for the assignment of the isolates. The Gram-positive bacteria of the actinomycetes branch could be assigned to the order Actinomycetales including the genera Cellulomonas/Oerskovia, Microbacterium and Kocuria. The Gram-positive bact…
Contrasting Effects of Environmental Concentrations of Sulfonamides on Microbial Heterotrophic Activities in Freshwater Sediments
2021
The sulfonamide antibiotics sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and sulfamethazine (SMZ) are regularly detected in surface sediments of contaminated hydrosystems, with maximum concentrations that can reach tens of μg kg–1 in stream and river sediments. Little is known about the resulting effects on the exposed benthic organisms. Here we investigated the functional response of stream sediment microbial communities exposed for 4 weeks to two levels of environmentally relevant concentrations of SMX and SMZ, tested individually. To this end, we developed a laboratory channel experiment where natural stream sediments were immersed in water contaminated with nominal environmental concentrations of 500 and 5,0…
Real-time reverse transcription PCR analysis of expression of atrazine catabolism genes in two bacterial strains isolated from soil
2004
Abstract The level of expression of highly conserved, plasmid-borne, and widely dispersed atrazine catabolic genes ( atz ) was studied by RT-qPCR in two telluric atrazine-degrading microbes. RT-qPCR assays, based on the use of real-time PCR, were developed in order to quantify atzABCDEF mRNAs in Pseudomonas sp. ADP and atzABC mRNAs in Chelatobacter heintzii . atz gene expression was expressed as mRNA copy number per 10 6 16S rRNA. In Pseudomonas sp. ADP, atz genes were basally expressed. It confirmed atrazine-degrading kinetics indicating that catabolic activity starts immediately after adding the herbicide. atz gene expression increased transitorily in response to atrazine treatment. This …
Construction of simplified microbial consortia to degrade recalcitrant materials based on enrichment and dilution-to-extinction cultures
2019
AbstractThe capacity of microbes degrading recalcitrant materials has been extensively explored from environmental remediation to industrial applications. Although significant achievements were obtained with single strains, focus is now going toward the use of microbial consortia because of advantages in terms of functional stability and efficiency. While consortia assembly attempts were made from several known single strains, another approach consists in obtaining consortia from complex environmental microbial communities in search for novel microbial species, genes and functions. However, assembling efficient microbial consortia from complex environmental communities is far from trivial d…