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Assessing labelled carbon assimilation from poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) monomers during thermophilic anaerobic digestion
Summary
Researchers used isotopically labeled carbon to track the biodegradation of PBAT (a biodegradable plastic) monomers in anaerobic conditions using wastewater treatment sludge as inoculum, finding limited metabolization that raises questions about PBAT's true biodegradability in anaerobic environments.
PBAT (poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) is a widely used biodegradable plastic, but the knowledge about its metabolization in anaerobic environments is very limited. In this study, the anaerobic digester sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was used as inoculum to investigate the biodegradability of PBAT monomers in thermophilic conditions. The research employs a combination of 13C-labelled monomers and proteogenomics to track the labelled carbon and identify the microorganisms involved. A total of 122 labelled peptides of interest were identified for adipic acid (AA) and 1,4-butanedio (BD). Through the time-dependent isotopic enrichment and isotopic profile distributions, Bacteroides, Ichthyobacterium, and Methanosarcina were proven to be directly involved in the metabolization of at least one monomer. This study provides a first insight into the identity and genomic potential of microorganisms responsible for biodegradability of PBAT monomers during anaerobic digestion under thermophilic conditions.
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