Biosurfactant, polythene, plastic, and diesel biodegradation activity of endophytic Nocardiopsis sp. mrinalini9 isolated from Hibiscus rosasinensis leaves

Background: Endophytic non-streptomycetes group of actinomycetes from Hibiscus rosasinensis leaves were screened for biosurfactant, polythene, plastic, and diesel biodegradation activities. Biosurfactant activity was evaluated by hemolysis, drop-collapsing test, lipase production, oil-spreading technique, bacterial adhesion to hydrocarbon (BATH) assay, penetration assay, and emulsification assay. Similarly, polythene, plastic, and diesel biodegradation activity were also carried out. Findings: Among the five non-streptomycetes isolates, only one newly found actinomycete isolate named as A9 exhibited significant biosurfactant and biodegradation activity. Based on Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology, the strain A9 was similar to Nocardiopsis sp. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis support the classification of the isolate as a new strain which was named as Nocardiopsis sp.mrinalini9. The isolate was closely related to the type strain of Nocardiopsis synnemataformans sharing a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 99%. The partial 16S rRNA sequence of the isolate (1061 bp) was deposited in Genebank under the accession number KF909126. Still, DNA-DNA hybridizations, phenotypic comparisons, and chemotaxonomic analysis need to be performed to confirm its novelty. Conclusion: It is evident from the study that rare endphytes associated with medicinal plants has got excellent hydrocarbon biodegradation capacity.