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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Microbial Degradation of (Micro)plastics: Mechanisms, Enhancements, and Future Directions
ClearThe Role and Application of Microbial Enzymes in Microplastics’ Bioremediation: Available and Future Perspectives
This chapter reviews how microbial enzymes — including PETases, laccases, and cutinases — can break down microplastic polymers in soil and aquatic environments, and how advances in metagenomics and enzyme engineering are accelerating discovery of new plastic-degrading candidates. While promising, the authors note that no enzyme-based solution is yet scalable enough to meaningfully reduce the microplastic burden already present in the environment.
Biodegradation of Microplastic: A Sustainable Approach
This review examines biological approaches to microplastic degradation, covering microorganisms and enzymes capable of breaking down common plastic polymers such as PET and polyethylene. Biodegradation could offer a sustainable path to reducing microplastic accumulation in soil, water, and marine environments.
Enhanced degradation of microplastics by laccase under ambient conditions: Analysis of underlying molecular mechanisms
This study demonstrated that the enzyme laccase can degrade three types of microplastics — polyethylene (PE), PET, and PLA — by breaking apart polymer chains and transforming surface chemical groups, with biodegradable PLA showing the highest degradation efficiency. The mechanistic insights into how reactive oxygen species and electron transfer drive enzymatic degradation provide a foundation for developing enzyme-based treatments to remove microplastics from water and soil.
Frontiers in plastic biodegradation: unraveling the mechanisms and impacts of macro- and microplastic pollution
This review examined current approaches to breaking down plastic pollution using microorganisms and enzymes, covering common plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and polystyrene. Researchers highlighted several promising biological degradation pathways, including enzymes like PETase and laccase produced by bacteria and fungi. The study suggests that combining genetic engineering of plastic-degrading organisms with circular economy strategies could help address the growing global plastic pollution crisis.
Biodegradation of Plastic and the Role of Microbial Enzymes in Plastic Waste Management
This review examines how microbial enzymes, particularly PET hydrolases and oxidative enzymes, can depolymerize and break down common plastic polymers through biological degradation. The study suggests that enzymatic approaches to plastic waste management offer a promising complement to mechanical and chemical recycling, though optimizing enzyme activity and scaling up the process remain key challenges.
Microbial enzyme power: Breaking down microplastics for a cleaner planet
This review examines how microbial enzymes produced by bacteria, fungi, and algae can break down and degrade microplastic polymers. The study suggests that enzymatic biodegradation represents a promising and more sustainable alternative to conventional microplastic removal methods, though further research is needed to improve enzyme efficiency and scalability.
Recent trends in microbial and enzymatic plastic degradation: a solution for plastic pollution predicaments
This review covers recent advances in using microorganisms and their enzymes to break down plastics including polyethylene, PVC, polystyrene, and PET, with techniques like protein engineering being used to boost enzyme efficiency. Microbial degradation offers a sustainable approach to reducing the persistent plastic pollution that generates the microplastics found throughout the environment and human body.
Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution
This review surveys microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and other taxa—capable of degrading microplastics, examining the enzymes, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions involved, and assessing the practical potential of harnessing these organisms for bioremediation of plastic pollution.
Microbial Degradation of Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: A New Frontier in Environmental Bioremediation
This review examines microbial degradation of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, covering bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes capable of colonizing plastic surfaces, forming biofilms, and secreting enzymes to degrade polymers including polyethylene and PET.
Microbial Enzymes Used in Bioremediation
This review covers microbial enzymes that can break down environmental pollutants, including some types of plastic polymers. Enzymes like laccases, hydrolases, and lipases show promise for degrading plastics and other harmful substances in the environment. While not focused solely on microplastics, the research suggests that enzyme-based bioremediation could eventually help reduce microplastic pollution in soil and water.
A review on microbial bioremediation of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics
This review focuses on microbial biodegradation of PET microplastics — the plastic used in bottles and synthetic textiles — detailing the specific enzymes (PETase and MHETase) that bacteria use to break the polymer down into its chemical building blocks. Biological degradation offers a lower-energy, more environmentally gentle alternative to chemical recycling or landfill, and understanding the microbial mechanisms involved is key to developing scalable bioremediation solutions for one of the most pervasive microplastic types.
Biodegradation of different types of microplastics: Molecular mechanism and degradation efficiency
This review examines how bacteria, fungi, and algae can break down different types of microplastics through their enzymes, and compares the degradation efficiency of various microbial strains. Understanding these biological breakdown pathways is important because they could be developed into practical solutions for reducing the persistent microplastic pollution that threatens ecosystems and human health.
Microbial Degradation of Plastics and Approaches to Make it More Efficient
This review examines microbial degradation of plastics by bacteria and fungi, focusing on polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET, and discusses methods to make biodegradation more efficient as a potential solution to plastic pollution.
Biological Degradation of Plastics and Microplastics: A Recent Perspective on Associated Mechanisms and Influencing Factors
This review looks at how bacteria and their enzymes can break down different types of plastics and microplastics through biological processes. Understanding these natural degradation pathways is important because they could be harnessed to reduce the amount of persistent microplastic pollution that accumulates in the environment and eventually enters the human food chain.
Role of Various Microbes and Their Enzymatic Mechanisms for Biodegradation of Microplastics
This review examines the microbial enzymes and degradation mechanisms responsible for biodegrading microplastic polymers, covering bacterial, fungal, and algal systems that have evolved plastic-degrading capabilities over the past 150 years of plastic production. The authors survey the most promising enzymatic pathways and organisms for biotechnological application in microplastic remediation.
Microbial Polyethylene Terephthalate Hydrolases: Current and Future Perspectives
This review surveys microbial enzymes capable of breaking down PET plastic, focusing on the structure and function of key hydrolases like PETase and cutinases. Researchers found that while several enzymes show promising PET-degrading activity, most work slowly and under limited temperature conditions, with engineered variants showing improved performance. The study highlights both the potential and the current limitations of using biological approaches for plastic waste management.
A minireview on the bioremediative potential of microbial enzymes as solution to emerging microplastic pollution
This mini review explores the potential of microbial enzymes as a sustainable solution for degrading microplastics, discussing recent advances in identifying plastic-degrading enzymes and the challenges remaining for practical bioremediation applications.
Microbe-assisted Enzymatic Degradation of Microplastic
This review examines microbially assisted enzymatic degradation of microplastics as a promising bioremediation strategy, surveying the microorganisms and extracellular enzymes capable of cleaving plastic polymer chains. The authors assess current progress, limitations, and future prospects for applying this approach to reduce microplastic accumulation in terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Bioremediation of Microplastics by Microorganisms: Trends, Challenges, and Perspectives
This review examines how microorganisms can be used to break down microplastic pollution in water and soil through bioremediation, a process considered more environmentally friendly than chemical alternatives. Researchers summarized the various microbial mechanisms involved, including enzymatic degradation and biofilm formation on plastic surfaces. While the approach shows promise as a green solution, the study notes that significant challenges remain in scaling these methods for real-world environmental cleanup.
Microbial and Enzymatic Degradation of Plastic Waste in Water
This review surveys microbial and enzymatic pathways for degrading plastic waste in water, cataloging enzymes such as PETases and cutinases along with the microorganisms that produce them. The authors assess current limitations of biological degradation rates and discuss how enzyme engineering and synthetic microbial consortia could accelerate plastic breakdown.