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Engineering environmental bacteria for whole-cell PET hydrolysis and assimilation
Summary
Scientists engineered a bacterium that can actually eat and break down PET plastic (the kind used in water bottles and food containers) as its food source, even surviving in real wastewater. This matters because PET pollution breaks down into microplastics that contaminate our water, food, and bodies—and this bacteria-based approach could offer a more practical way to clean up plastic waste that's otherwise hard to collect and recycle.
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most widely used plastics in food and textile applications, yet post-consumer PET waste persists and accumulates in the environment as macro- and microplastics with adverse health and ecological impacts. Although PET-hydrolysing enzymes have been extensively studied in vitro, whole-cell microbial systems capable of using PET as a growth substrate remain limited, particularly for difficult-to-collect waste. Here, we engineer an environmental bacterium to directly assimilate PET. A strain of Pseudomonas umsongensis capable of metabolising the PET monomer terephthalic acid was isolated and engineered to secrete the high-activity PET hydrolase polyester hydrolase Leipzig 7 via a recombinant twin-arginine translocation motif signal peptide. PET bioavailability was further enhanced through solvent-based pretreatment to generate an amorphous, macroporous substrate. The engineered strain demonstrated direct PET utilisation and hydrolysis, supporting self-sustaining microbial growth. Additionally, in non-sterile wastewater the strain survived and hydrolysed PET microplastics, highlighting its potential for bioremediation and sustainable upcycling applications.