Masayuki Wakabayashi, Akihiro Sakatoku, Fumio Noda, Minoru Noda, Daisuke Tanaka, Shogo Nakamura
To reduce the volume of seaweed wastes and extract polysaccharides, seaweed-degrading bacteria were isolated from drifting macroalgae harvested along the coast of Toyama Bay, Japan. Sixty-four bacterial isolates were capable of degrading "Wakame" (Undaria pinnatifida) thallus fragments into single cell detritus (SCD) particles. Amongst these, strain 6532A was the most active degrader of thallus fragments, and was capable of degrading thallus fragments to SCD particles within a day. Although the sequence similarity of the 16S rRNA gene of strain 6532A was 100% similar to that of Microbulbifer elongatus JAMB-A7, several distinct differences were observed between strains, including motility, morphology, and utilization of D: -arabinose and gelatin...
February 2012: Biodegradation