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Web Alert: Microbes and plastics: An annotated selection of World Wide Web sites relevant to the topics in environmental microbiology
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Researchers characterized microplastics in surface water and fish from a river system receiving effluent from textile manufacturing facilities, finding elevated fiber concentrations and predominantly polyester composition consistent with industrial discharge. Fish from polluted sites had significantly higher microplastic burdens than those from reference sites, indicating localized ecological impacts.
https://environmentalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-020-00371-w This review details different environments in which communities of microbes act to colonize and breakdown anthropogenic polymers. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01529-1 Microorganisms can make plastic materials and also breakdown plastics. The use of microbes in both areas can serve to make for more sustainable recycling of materials and their waste products. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1178474/full Most plastic biodegradation studies have been done at 20°C or at a higher temperature. This study examined plastic degrading bacteria isolated from alpine and Arctic soils. https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aic.18228 In this study, the authors genetically engineered a moderate halophile with displayed enzymes to biodegrade polyethylene terephthalate in marine-like saltwater. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/11/7/1661 This recent review provides a good overview of plastic and microplastic biodegradation. https://pdb101.rcsb.org/motm/277#:~:text=Plastic%20Eaters,linkage%20into%20long%20polymer%20chains.%5C Plastic degrading enzymes were here designated as molecules of the month at the Protein DataBank. The page provides links to the X-ray structures of several enzymes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10526444/ This review discusses efforts to improve plastic biodegradation by using structural biology knowledge to engineer enzymes that have higher efficiency. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04599-z This paper describes the use of machine learning to make an improved enzyme for the hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31691-9 Plastics and plastic leachate increase organic matter in lakes dramatically, leading to enhanced bacterial growth and pollution. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311253120 This report summarizes increasing concerns that plastic pollution may also increase the incidence and spread of pathogenic parasites, bacteria and viruses. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022006432 This review focuses on marine environments and methods for studying biodegradation in the plastisphere.
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A Valuable Source of Promising Extremophiles in Microbial Plastic Degradation
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This review summarizes research on using bacteria and other microorganisms, especially those from extreme environments, to break down plastic waste. While some organisms can partially degrade plastics using specialized enzymes, the process is still too slow to solve the pollution problem at scale. The research is a promising step toward biological solutions for reducing the massive buildup of microplastics in the environment.
Plastic Biodegradation: Potential of Microbial Enzymes
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This review examines microbial enzymes that have demonstrated the ability to break down synthetic plastics, a process that could offer a biological route to plastic waste remediation. The paper surveys the range of enzyme types, the plastic substrates they target, and the mechanisms by which they degrade polymer chains. Understanding these enzymatic pathways is a critical step toward engineering scalable biocatalytic solutions for plastic biodegradation.
Biodegradation of Petrochemical Plastics by Microorganisms: Toward Sustainable Solutions for Plastic Pollution
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This review comprehensively examined microbial biodegradation of major petrochemical plastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and PVC by bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes, highlighting key degrading strains, enzymatic mechanisms, and advances in protein engineering and synthetic biology for enhanced efficiency. While scaling biodegradation to environmental conditions remains challenging due to variable temperature, pH, microbial competition, and potentially toxic intermediates, the review argued that microbial approaches represent promising eco-friendly pathways toward a biobased circular economy for plastic waste.
Microbial-Mediated Plastic Degradation: A Sustainable Pathway to Environmental Health
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This review examines how microorganisms degrade plastics through enzymes such as esterases, cutinases, and laccases via a four-phase process ending in mineralization to CO2, water, and methane. It also covers metabolic pathways and protein engineering approaches that could enhance microbial plastic degradation for environmental remediation.
Plastic-Degrading Microorganisms: Biodegradation Pathways and Habitat Origins
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Scientists have found that certain bacteria and fungi—living in places like landfills, soil, and compost—naturally produce enzymes that can break down different types of plastic, essentially "eating" them as food. This matters because plastic pollution (including the microplastics we're increasingly exposed to in food, water, and air) is a growing health concern, and these microbes could offer a natural, eco-friendly way to clean up plastic waste instead of relying on landfills or incineration. This paper is a review, meaning it summarizes and organizes findings from existing studies rather than presenting brand-new experiments.
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