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Biodegradation of Plastics Induced by Marine Organisms: Future Perspectives for Bioremediation Approaches
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This review explores how marine organisms, including bacteria and fungi, can biodegrade plastic pollution in ocean environments. Researchers surveyed the current evidence on biofouling and enzymatic breakdown of different plastic types by marine life. The study suggests that harnessing these natural biodegradation processes could offer a promising bioremediation approach, though significant research gaps remain before practical applications are feasible.
Plastic pollution is a distinctive element of the globalized world. In fact, since the 1970s the expansion and use of plastics, particularly in the consumer and commercial sectors, has given this material a permanent place in our lives. The increasing use of plastic products and the wrong management of end-of-life plastic products have contributed to increasing environmental pollution, with negative impacts on our ecosystems and the ecological functions of natural habitats. Nowadays, plastic pollution is pervasive in all environmental compartments. As aquatic environments are the dumping points for poorly managed plastics, biofouling and biodegradation have been proposed as promising approaches for plastic bioremediation. Known for the high stability of plastics in the marine environment, this represents a very important issue to preserve marine biodiversity. In this review, we have summarized the main cases reported in the literature on the degradation of plastics by bacteria, fungi, and microalgae and the degradation mechanisms involved, to highlight the potential of bioremediation approaches to reduce macro and microplastic pollution.
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Bioremediation of plastics by the help of microbial tool: A way for control of plastic pollution
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This review covers how bacteria and fungi can be used to break down plastic waste, including microplastics, through natural biological processes. Various microorganisms can degrade different types of plastics by producing specific enzymes, though the process is slow and depends on the plastic type and environmental conditions. While biological degradation shows promise for reducing microplastic pollution in soil and water, much more research is needed to make it effective enough to address the scale of the problem.
Microbial ecology: A new perspective of plastic degradation
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This review explores the role of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi in biodegrading plastics in the environment. It surveys documented microbial species and mechanisms capable of breaking down various plastic types, discussing the potential of microbial ecology as a new framework for managing plastic pollution.
The threat of microplastics and microbial degradation potential; a current perspective
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This review covers the growing threat of microplastics in marine environments, where they enter the food chain and can transfer to humans along with pathogenic organisms, causing various toxic effects. The paper also explores how bacteria and fungi found in ocean environments could be harnessed to biodegrade different types of plastics as a future strategy for reducing microplastic pollution.
The Role Of Bacteria In Microplastic Bioremediation And Implications For Marine Ecosystems
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This literature review summarizes how bacteria can be harnessed through bioremediation to break down microplastics in marine environments, cataloging the bacterial species and mechanisms involved. While biological degradation is slow and not yet a practical cleanup solution at scale, identifying effective bacteria is an important step toward developing tools to reduce the long-term accumulation of microplastics in ocean ecosystems.
Biodegradation of Typical Plastics: From Microbial Diversity to Metabolic Mechanisms
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This review examines how marine microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, can naturally break down common plastics like PET, polystyrene, and polyethylene. Marine microbes may be better adapted than land-based organisms for this task because they already thrive in harsh conditions, offering a potential environmentally friendly approach to addressing ocean plastic pollution.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.