Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

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.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 50 citations
Review Tier 2

Microbial enzymes for plastic degradation: a comprehensive review of current status and emerging trends

This comprehensive review examines the current state of microbial enzyme research for degrading common plastics including PET, polyurethane, polyethylene, polystyrene, and PVC. Researchers highlight recent advances in enzyme discovery using computational tools, machine learning, and AI-assisted approaches, while noting that harnessing these biological systems could offer a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic waste management.

2026 Biodegradation
Article Tier 2

Microbial plastic degradation: enzymes, pathways, challenges, and perspectives.

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microbial plastic degradation, covering the enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in breaking down major synthetic polymers, the challenges limiting efficient biodegradation, and perspectives for engineering improved microbial solutions to plastic waste.

2025 Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in microbial and enzymatic engineering for the biodegradation of micro- and nanoplastics

This review covers recent advances in using engineered enzymes and microbes to break down plastic pollution, including persistent plastics like polyethylene and polystyrene that are major sources of microplastics. Developing biological methods to degrade these materials matters for human health because microplastics have been linked to cancer risk and endocrine disruption, and reducing plastic pollution at the source could lower overall human exposure.

2024 RSC Advances 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advancements and Mechanism of Plastics Biodegradation Promoted by Bacteria: A Key for Sustainable Remediation for Plastic Wastes

This review highlights recent discoveries of microbial enzymes capable of degrading various plastics, discussing bacterial biodegradation mechanisms as a sustainable remediation strategy for addressing accumulating plastic waste in landfills and water bodies.

2023 Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial enzymes for the recycling of recalcitrant petroleum‐based plastics: how far are we?

This review examines the progress in identifying microbial enzymes capable of breaking down petroleum-based plastics like polyethylene, polystyrene, polyurethane, and PET. Researchers highlight recent advances in using polyester-degrading enzymes to recover raw materials from PET waste through biocatalytic recycling. The study discusses the potential and remaining challenges of using biological approaches to address the growing global problem of plastic waste accumulation.

2017 Microbial Biotechnology 788 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2026 International Journal of Education Management and Technology
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences
Article Tier 2

Enzymes to make plastics disappear

This review article discusses the problem of plastic waste accumulating in the environment, including the formation of microplastics, and explores the potential of engineered enzymes to break down synthetic polymers as a biological solution to plastic pollution.

2024 C&EN Global Enterprise
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on the Environment and Human/Animal Health and Their Enzymatic Removal

This review covers the environmental and health impacts of microplastics across ecosystems and discusses enzymatic degradation approaches, examining how identified plastic-degrading enzymes could be engineered or deployed at scale to reduce MP persistence in the environment.

2025
Article Tier 2

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.

2026 Biodegradation 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Microbiology 122 citations
Review Tier 2

The plastic and microplastic waste menace and bacterial biodegradation for sustainable environmental clean-up a review

This review examined bacterial biodegradation of plastic and microplastic waste, covering key microbial species, enzymatic mechanisms, and biotechnological approaches being developed for sustainable environmental cleanup of plastic pollution.

2023 Environmental Research 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Eco-Microbiology: Discovering Biochemical Enhancers of PET Biodegradation by Piscinibacter sakaiensis

This paper reviews biochemical strategies for enhancing PET biodegradation by microorganisms, focusing on the discovery and engineering of plastic-degrading enzymes. The review highlights recent advances and remaining challenges in scaling up enzymatic plastic degradation for industrial applications.

2024
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 NIPES Journal of Science and Technology Research
Article Tier 2

Insights into Microbial Enzymatic Biodegradation of Plastics and Microplastics: Technological Updates

This review covers the latest advances in using microbial enzymes and biotechnology to break down plastic and microplastic waste. While some bacteria and fungi can partially degrade certain plastics, the process is slow and limited by factors like the plastic's chemical structure and crystallinity. The research points toward genetic engineering and genome editing as potential tools to speed up plastic degradation, though practical large-scale solutions are still in development.

2025 ACS Environmental Au 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A concept for the biotechnological minimizing of emerging plastics, micro- and nano-plastics pollutants from the environment: A review.

This review examined biotechnological strategies for remediating plastics, micro-, and nano-plastics from the environment, cataloguing microbial and enzymatic degradation approaches, discussing their mechanistic basis, and proposing an integrated biotechnology framework for minimizing plastic pollution across terrestrial and aquatic systems.

2023 Environmental research
Article Tier 2

Environmental impact and mitigation of micro(nano)plastics pollution using green catalytic tools and green analytical methods

Researchers reviewed the growing problem of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, then assessed enzyme-based strategies for breaking them down, finding that enzymes specifically targeting plastic polymer structures offer a promising, sustainable approach to degradation, especially when stabilized on nanomaterials to extend their activity.

2022 Green Analytical Chemistry 50 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2024
Article Tier 2

Engineering a Solution: Recent Technological Advances in the Microbial Bioremediation of Microplastics

This review examines recent advances in microbial bioremediation of microplastics, highlighting the limitations of conventional treatments and presenting biological alternatives using bacteria, fungi, and algae capable of degrading plastic polymers. The authors discuss key enzymatic mechanisms and the potential for scaling microbial approaches as sustainable remediation tools for plastic pollution.

2025 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

Microbial Degradation and Valorization of Plastic Wastes

This review covers recent advances in microbial and enzymatic degradation of synthetic plastic wastes, summarizing the microorganisms and enzymes capable of attacking different polymer types and assessing the prospects for biological plastic waste treatment at scale.

2020 Frontiers in Microbiology 551 citations
Article Tier 2

Genetic engineering approach to address microplastic environmental pollution: a review

This review explores how genetic engineering approaches could enhance the ability of microorganisms to biodegrade microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment. Researchers highlight that while wild-type microbes struggle to break down plastics due to their high molecular weight and crystallinity, engineered enzymes and organisms show potential for more effective plastic pollution remediation.

2023 Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Review on plastic wastes in marine environment – Biodegradation and biotechnological solutions

Researchers reviewed plastic biodegradation in the marine environment, cataloguing microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces and the enzymes they produce, while highlighting biotechnological strategies — including enzyme engineering and biofilm optimization — as necessary complements to physical and chemical approaches for reducing micro- and nanoplastic contamination.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 390 citations
Article Tier 2

An Overview into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolases and Efforts in Tailoring Enzymes for Improved Plastic Degradation

This review examines the discovery and engineering of PET-degrading enzymes including PETase and cutinase variants, discussing protein engineering strategies to improve catalytic efficiency and thermostability for practical biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 120 citations