Abstract:
Polythenes are used in many spheres of human life such as packaging of commodities,
construction of green houses and ponds among other uses. When not properly disposed,
they contaminate the environment since they are not easily biodegraded. In this study,
polythene papers were buried around growing maize, in the forest and in waste
damping sites. Soil samples were separately collected from the three sites, packed in
sterilised polythene bags and taken to the laboratory for isolation of actinomycetes. The
soils were dried on the bench for one week. Actinomycetes were isolated using starch
casein agar. Characterization of the isolates was carried out using cultural, physiological
and biochemical means. The polythenes were subjected to degradation by the
actinomycetes by placing them in conical flasks having starch casein broth followed by
incubation in shaking conditions at 30oC for one week. Three groups of potential
actinomycetes were isolated from maize soil (EU10, EU15, EU19), forest soil (EU3, EU8,
EU13) and damping site soil (EU21, EU25, EU30). The isolated actinomycetes had
varying microscopic, physiological and biochemical characteristics. There was no
significant difference in polythene sheets degradation between maize, forest and
damping site soils (F=38, P<0.05). However, there was significant difference in the
polythene sheets degradation among the actinomycetes (F=11.49, P=0.03).
Actinomycetes from the soils of Egerton University had a great potential of producing
metabolites that degraded polythenes. There is need for massive isolation and screening
of the actinomycetes for production of metabolites that are capable of degrading
polythene.
