Fungal potential for the degradation of petroleum-based polymers: An overview of macro- and microplastics biodegradation

Petroleum-based plastic materials as pollutants raise concerns because of their impact on the global ecosystem and on animal and human health. There is an urgent need to remove plastic waste from the environment to overcome the environmental crisis of plastic pollution. This review describes the natural and unique ability of fungi to invade substrates by using enzymes that have the capacity to detoxify pollutants and are able to act on nonspecific substrates, the fungal ability to produce hydrophobins for surface coating to attach hyphae to hydrophobic substrates, and hyphal ability to penetrate three dimensional substrates. Fungal studies on macro- and microplastics biodegradation have shown that fungi are able to use these materials as the sole carbon and energy source. Further research is required on novel isolates from plastisphere ecosystems, on the use of molecular techniques to characterize plastic-degrading fungi and enhance enzymatic activity levels, and on the use of omics-based technologies to accelerate plastic waste biodegradation processes. The addition of pro-oxidants species (photosensitizers) and the reduction of biocides and antioxidant stabilizers used in the plastic manufacturing process should also be considered to promote biodegradation. Interdisciplinary research and innovative fungal strategies for plastic waste biodegradation, as well as ecofriendly manufacturing of petroleum-based plastics, may help to reduce the negative impacts of plastic waste pollution in the biosphere.