Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2016) 5(6): 22-31 22 Original Research Article http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.506.003 Comparative Study of Plastic and Polymer Degrading Bacillus megaterium and Aspergillus niger Isolated from Dumped Plastic Waste S. Bhuvaneswari 1* , G. Subashini 1 and R. Sarojini 2 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Shrimati Indira Gandhi College, Trichy-2, India 2 Department of Microbiology, Shrimati Indira Gandhi College, Trichy-2, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Plastics are defined as the polymers (solid materials) which on heating become mobile and can be cast into moulds. They are non- metallic moldable compounds and the materials that are made from into any desired shape and sizes. The word plastic comes from the Greek word „plastikos‟, which means, „able to be molded into different shapes‟. The plastics we use are Made from, inorganic and organic raw material such as carbon, silicon, etc., Basic material used for making plastic are extracted from coal, oil and natural gas. Plastics and their use has become a part in all sectors of economy.. Plastics are also used in packaging of products such as food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and chemicals. Approximately 30% of plastics are used worldwide for packaging International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 6 (2016) pp. 22-31 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Plastics and their use has become a part in all sectors of economy. The word plastic comes from the Greek word „plastikos‟, which means, able to be molded into different shapes. This study has covered the major concerns about the natural and synthetic polymers, their types, uses and degradability. The present study deals with the isolation, identification and degradative ability of plastic degrading microorganisms from soil. Different types of changes are produced by the microorganism during morphological and biochemical analysis. Synthetic plastic sample collected from the dumped soil of garden was used in this study. The morphology of the isolates was observed and genus was identified by biochemical tests as Bacillus sp. and Aspergillus sp. In the study, pieces of plastics and synthesized PES membrane were inoculated in the liquid culture medium and kept for 1 month to observe the percentage of weight loss by bacteria and fungi. The percentage of weight loss due to degradation was found more by Bacillus. This shows greater potential of degradation compared to Aspergillus. The preliminary screening of biodegradation capability was done by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy and SEM (Scanning electron microscopy) analysis. Target DNA from isolated strain was submitted for 16S rRNA sequencing after which BLAST and phylogenetic analysis have to be carried out. Keywords Biodegradation, Plastics, Bacillus sp., Aspergillus, PCR. Accepted: 07 May 2016 Available Online: 10 June 2016 Article Info