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Proteomic characterisation of polyethylene terephthalate and monomer degradation by Ideonella sakaiensis
Summary
Scientists studied a bacterium that can actually eat plastic bottles (PET), figuring out which internal tools and processes it uses to break the plastic down into simpler substances. This matters because plastic pollution, including the microplastics increasingly found in our food, water, and even our bodies, is a growing health concern, and understanding how nature can break down plastic waste could eventually help us develop better ways to clean up this pollution before it affects us further.
Synthetic plastics, like polyethylene terephthalate (PET), have become an essential part of modern life. Many of these products are remarkably persistent in the environment, and the accumulation in the environment is recognised as a major threat. Therefore, an increasing interest has been focusing on the screening for organisms able to degrade and assimilate the plastic. Ideonella sakaiensis originally isolated from a plastisphere has been reported as a bacterium that was solely thriving on the degradation on PET films. The processes affected by the presence of PET and its monomeric substances terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, ethyl glycolate, and sodium glyoxylate monohydrate were elucidated by analysis of differential protein expression. The exposure of PET and its monomers induced the MHETase and affect two major pathways: the TCA cycle and the β-oxidation pathway. The increased expression of proteins directly or indirectly involved in these pathways suggests their underlying importance in the degradation of PET by I. sakaiensis since these proteins are mechanistically supporting the enzymes involved in the degradation of PET and its monomers.