الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Plastic materials that have been generally used in our daily lives are now causing dangerous environmental problems. Petroleum-based plastics have serious ecological and social impacts because of their non-degradable nature and the leaching of carcinogenic substances when exposed to scratch or heat. Therefore, governments are looking for alternatives to reduce the use of synthetic polymers. Polyhydroxybutyrates (PHBs) are macromolecules synthesized by bacteria. Because of their fast degradability under natural environmental conditions, PHBs were selected as alternatives for the production of biodegradable plastics.
In this study, 45 different bacterial strains were isolated from different localities at Assiut Governorate and screened for PHB production using Sudan Black B staining. from the obtained results, 16 isolates show the ability to produce PHB. All the Sudan Black B-positive isolates were subjected to quantification of PHB production, and the best isolates were further characterized and optimized for their ability to produce a maximum amount of PHB. The PHB production was found to vary from 112–2295 mg/L, with the minimum and maximum represented by isolates BH1 and AS-02; respectively.