We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Plastic-degrading potential across the global microbiome correlates with recent pollution trends
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers analyzed global environmental DNA data to map the diversity of plastic-degrading enzymes in ocean and soil microbiomes, finding that microbial plastic-degradation potential correlates with local plastic pollution levels. This suggests microbial communities are adapting to degrade plastics in heavily polluted environments.
Abstract Poor recycling has accumulated millions of tons of plastic waste in terrestrial and marine environments. While biodegradation is a plausible route towards sustainable management of plastic waste, the global diversity of plastic-degrading enzymes remains poorly understood. Taking advantage of global environmental DNA sampling projects, here we construct HMM models from experimentally-verified enzymes and mine ocean and soil metagenomes to assess the global potential of microorganisms to degrade plastics. By controlling for false positives using gut microbiome data, we compile a catalogue of over 30,000 non-redundant enzyme homologues with the potential to degrade 10 different plastic types. While differences between the ocean and soil microbiomes likely reflect the base compositions of these environments, we find that ocean enzyme abundance might increase with depth as a response to plastic pollution and not merely taxonomic composition. By obtaining further pollution measurements, we reveal that the abundance of the uncovered enzymes in both ocean and soil habitats significantly correlates with marine and country-specific plastic pollution trends. Our study thus uncovers the earth microbiome’s potential to degrade plastics, providing evidence of a measurable effect of plastic pollution on the global microbial ecology as well as a useful resource for further applied research.
More Papers Like This
Rapid Evolution of Plastic-degrading Enzymes Prevalent in the Global Ocean
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers found that plastic-degrading enzymes are rapidly evolving and are prevalent across global ocean environments, suggesting marine microbial communities are adapting to widespread plastic pollution. This points to natural enzymatic degradation as a potentially important but slow mechanism for processing ocean plastics.
Potential routes of plastics biotransformation involving novel plastizymes revealed by global multi-omic analysis of plastic associated microbes
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers analyzed all publicly available genetic data from microbes living on plastic debris worldwide and found that while plastic-eating bacteria are rare in most environments, rivers appear to be hotspots for novel plastic-degrading organisms. They also created a freely accessible database of these plastic-associated microbes, which could accelerate efforts to develop biological solutions for plastic pollution.
Emergence of specialized plastic-degrading enzymes within highly dynamic coastal oceans
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers conducted long-term monitoring of microplastics in the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem and found high abundances linked to freshwater inflow patterns. Alongside microplastics, they identified nearly 750 plastic-degrading enzyme sequences in the microbial community, suggesting that this dynamic coastal ecosystem harbors specialized plastic-degrading microbiomes.
Shotgun Metagenomic insights into the Plastisphere microbiome: Unveiling potential for clinical and industrial enzymes production along with plastic degradation
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to analyze microbial communities (plastisphere) colonizing plastic debris in soil and aquatic environments, finding that 54% of bacteria had plastic-degrading potential and that the plastisphere also harbored clinically relevant and industrially useful enzymes. The findings suggest the plastisphere is a reservoir of both plastic-degrading and biotechnologically valuable microorganisms.
Microbial Allies in Plastic Degradation: Specific bacterial genera as universal plastic-degraders in various environments
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers identified specific bacterial genera capable of degrading multiple types of plastic across different environments including landfill soil, sewage sludge, and river water. They found that certain bacteria, such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus species, consistently appeared as effective plastic degraders regardless of the environment. The study suggests that these universal plastic-degrading bacteria could be valuable candidates for developing bioremediation strategies to address 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.