Abstract
An addition of catalase or peroxidase into an agar plate containing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), was effective for the isolation of PVA-degrading microorganisms. A Gram-negative bacterium, strain TK-2 (γ-group of proteobacteria), rapidly degraded a high molecular weight PVA to low molecular weight material after 1 day thereby producing oligomers of PVA as shown by gel permeation chromatography. Conversely, Sphingomonas strain TJ-7 did not produce any PVA oligomers, suggesting that the strain TJ-7 degraded PVA from the terminal ends of the molecules, whereas the strain TK-2 cleaved PVA at random.
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Tokiwa, Y., Kawabata, G. & Jarerat, A. A modified method for isolating poly(vinyl alcohol)-degrading bacteria and study of their degradation patterns. Biotechnology Letters 23, 1937–1941 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013785817554
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013785817554