An overview on role of fungi in systematic plastic degradation

Plastics have largely supplanted natural materials such as paper, wood, and metal due to its cost effectiveness, high flexibility, durability, non-degradability, and fire resistance. Plastic's increased production, global distribution, and long-lasting nature eventually lead to environmental accumulation, posing serious concerns to the environment and biotic health. As a result, in this plastic age, developing appropriate metrics for plastic environmental cleanup could be a pressing concern. Thus, the capacity of biological systems to break down polymers has recently received more attention. It has been shown that different fungal strains consume these plastic polymers as their only source of carbon, converting them into eco-friendly carbon compounds. Various fungal strains, including Aspergillus nomius, Trichoderma viride, Cephalosporium sp., Stagonosporopsis citrulli, Colletotrichum fructicola, Diaporthe italiana, and others, have been found to successfully and efficiently degrade various plastic polymers. Mechanism of biodegradation includes following steps, that is, biodeterioration, biofragmentation, assimilation, and mineralization. This review mainly focuses on the numerous fungal strains isolated from various sites which engaged in plastic biodegradation, the biodegradation mechanism, and the various assessment methods used to analyze the extent of biodegradation process.