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Microplastic-Degrading Microorganisms: An Emerging Frontier in Environmental Microbiology
Summary
Scientists are studying special bacteria, fungi, and algae that can actually "eat" microplastics by breaking them down with natural enzymes—this matters because microplastics are now found everywhere, including inside our bodies, and current cleanup methods aren't working well enough. This review pulls together existing research on these plastic-munching microbes and highlights promising advances, like an AI-engineered enzyme that speeds up plastic breakdown, though scientists note real-world cleanup is still slow and faces major hurdles before it can be used at large scale.
Microplastics (MPs), plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, have emerged as ubiquitous and persistent environmental contaminants of global concern.Their pervasive presence in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric compartments poses significant ecological and public health risks.Conventional physicochemical remediation strategies have proven inadequate at scale, necessitating the exploration of sustainable biological alternatives.This comprehensive review examines the diversity of microplastic-degrading microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae, and cyanobacteria their enzymatic degradation mechanisms, biochemical degradation pathways, and the ecological dynamics of the plastisphere biofilm community.Key genera including Ideonella, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Rhodococcus, Aspergillus, Trametes, and Penicillium are discussed with reference to the specific enzymes they deploy against distinct polymer types.The roles of hydrolytic enzymes (PETase, MHETase, cutinases, lipases) and oxidative enzymes (laccases, peroxidases, alkane hydroxylases) are critically analyzed alongside recent protein engineering advances, including AI-guided directed evolution yielding the high-efficiency FAST-PETase variant.The influence of environmental parameters temperature, pH, UV radiation, nutrient availability, and plastic crystallinity on degradation efficiency is systematically reviewed.Current challenges, including slow degradation rates, polymer recalcitrance, additive toxicity, and scale-up barriers, are identified and future directions encompassing synthetic biology, metagenomics, and circular biorefinery concepts are critically discussed.