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Decay of low-density polyethylene by bacteria extracted from earthworm's guts: A potential for soil restoration

The Science of The Total Environment 2017 436 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Binita Thapa, Paolina Garbeva, Paolina Garbeva, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Paolina Garbeva, Henny Gertsen, Henny Gertsen, Henny Gertsen, Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Xiaomei Yang, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Tamás Salánki, Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Henny Gertsen, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Paolina Garbeva, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Paolina Garbeva, Paolina Garbeva, Paolina Garbeva, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Xiaomei Yang, Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Henny Gertsen, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Tamás Salánki, Tamás Salánki, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Xiaomei Yang, Violette Geissen Tamás Salánki, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen Violette Geissen

Summary

Researchers isolated bacteria from earthworm guts that were able to degrade low-density polyethylene, demonstrating that intestinal microbes from soil invertebrates may play a role in plastic breakdown. The findings suggest that earthworm gut microbiomes are a reservoir of plastic-degrading bacteria with potential applications for bioremediation of LDPE-contaminated soils.

Polymers

LDPE PE

Models

Invertebrate other

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is the most abundant source of microplastic pollution worldwide. A recent study found that LDPE decay was increased and the size of the plastic was decreased after passing through the gut of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris (Oligochaeta). Here, we investigated the involvement of earthworm gut bacteria in the microplastic decay. The bacteria isolated from the earthworm's gut were Gram-positive, belonging to phylum Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. These bacteria were used in a short-term microcosm experiment performed with gamma-sterilized soil with or without LDPE microplastics (MP). We observed that the LDPE-MP particle size was significantly reduced in the presence of bacteria. In addition, the volatile profiles of the treatments were compared and clear differences were detected. Several volatile compounds such as octadecane, eicosane, docosane and tricosane were measured only in the treatments containing both bacteria and LDPE-MP, indicating that these long-chain alkanes are byproducts of bacterial LDPE-MP decay.

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