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Biomolecular Analysis of Arctic Microorganisms Capable of Psychrophilic Growth on Biodegradable and Compostable Plastic
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Researchers isolated psychrophilic bacteria from Greenland snow and used multi-omics analysis to identify their genetic capacity for breaking down biodegradable and compostable plastics at near-freezing temperatures. This matters because biodegradable plastics are increasingly promoted as an environmental solution, yet their actual fate in cold polar environments — where much plastic pollution ends up — is poorly understood.
As climate change continues to disrupt the polar regions of our planet, a comprehensive understanding of both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of naturally occurring psychrophilic microorganisms is needed, not only from a microbial profiling and taxonomic aspect but also from an industrial potential standpoint. Knowing and understanding the organisms that have the genetic potential to break down environmental contaminants, such as microplastics, is of great interest. In this research, the primary focus was to isolate and characterize the psychrophilic microorganisms from a snow field near Ilulissat, Greenland and use a multi-omics approach to identify and characterize the biodegradation potential against certain biodegradable plastics. Bacterial stains isolated from Greenland were inoculated into small individual bioreactor tubes containing a minimal salts media combined with either polylactic acid or the proprietary Novamont material used in compostable bags. After 4 weeks of incubations at 6°C, turbidity (growth) was measured, and DNA and RNA were extracted and sequenced to identify putative plastic-degrading genes and biosynthetic gene clusters and determine if they are actively expressed in culture conditions. Cultured bacteria comprise 3 genera of bacteria: Pseudomonas, Duganella, and Massilia. Culture tubes comprised Pseudomonas or Duganella isolates alone or Pseudomonas in combination with either Duganella or Massilia isolates. Genomes assembled from cultures contained genes implicated in plastic degradation, and several contained the complete pathway for octane oxidation. Cultures contained active transcripts for most of the identified genes. Several biosynthetic gene clusters were also identified, which may play a role in biofilm formation or adaptation to psychrophilic growth. These data are believed to be the first laboratory culture experiments of psychrophilic microbial degradation of microplastics by organisms isolated from polar regions.
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Microbial communities colonizing biodegradable plastics in soil (the plastisphere of biodegradable materials) were characterized and compared to communities on conventional non-biodegradable plastics and bulk soil. Biodegradable plastic surfaces hosted distinct microbial assemblages enriched in polymer-degrading taxa, showing that material type shapes the plastisphere community even for plastics designed to decompose.
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Researchers reviewed how bacteria in cold marine environments — including polar oceans — can break down synthetic plastics, highlighting the unique advantages of cold-adapted microbes for plastic remediation. While plastic degradation in cold habitats is still poorly understood, these microorganisms represent a promising avenue for cleaning up ocean plastic pollution.
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A polypropylene microplastic-degrading bacterium was isolated from Antarctic soil, a region increasingly affected by microplastic pollution despite its remoteness from direct contamination sources. The study characterized the isolate's ability to colonize and degrade PP microplastics in the cold terrestrial Antarctic environment.
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Researchers isolated 34 cold-adapted microbial strains from alpine and Arctic soils colonizing buried plastics, finding that several fungi—particularly Neodevriesia and Lachnellula—could degrade biodegradable plastics including PUR, PBAT, and PLA at just 15 degrees C, though none could break down conventional polyethylene.
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