Papers

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Article Tier 2

Degradation of PET plastic with engineered environmental bacteria

Scientists engineered a soil bacterium to break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in food packaging and textiles, by giving it the ability to produce and secrete a powerful plastic-degrading enzyme. This is one of the first demonstrations of a living microorganism that can directly consume PET as a food source, which could lead to more sustainable recycling approaches.

2024 4 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
Article Tier 2

A novel Bacillus subtilis BPM12 with high bis(2 hydroxyethyl)terephthalate hydrolytic activity efficiently interacts with virgin and mechanically recycled polyethylene terephthalate

Researchers discovered a soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis BPM12, that can break down PET plastic building blocks at impressively high rates and across a wide range of temperatures and pH levels. The study shows that combining mechanical shredding with biological degradation by this microbe could be a practical route to recycling more PET plastic waste, a major source of environmental microplastics, back into useful chemicals.

2023 Environmental Technology & Innovation 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Process development for PETase production and purification

Researchers developed a production and purification process for PETase, an enzyme capable of breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic biologically, as an alternative to inadequate mechanical and chemical recycling methods for mixed and contaminated PET waste. The study addresses the global plastic pollution crisis by advancing the scalability of enzymatic PET degradation as a sustainable recycling pathway.

2024
Article Tier 2

Towards synthetic PETtrophy: Engineering Pseudomonas putida for concurrent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) monomer metabolism and PET hydrolase expression

Researchers engineered a soil bacterium to simultaneously break down PET plastic and use its building-block chemicals as food, identifying key bottlenecks in balancing enzyme production with bacterial fitness that will need to be resolved before such microbes can be used for large-scale plastic biodegradation.

2022 Microbial Cell Factories 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Remediation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)–Based Polymers for Effective Management of Plastic Wastes: An Overview

Enzymatic approaches for remediating PET-based plastic waste were reviewed, covering PETase and related enzymes that can break PET into reusable monomers. Enzyme engineering strategies to improve thermostability and catalytic efficiency are discussed as a pathway to scalable biological PET recycling.

2020 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 193 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovery and mechanism-guided engineering of BHET hydrolases for improved PET recycling and upcycling

Researchers identified and engineered two enzymes — called BHETases — that efficiently break down PET plastic (the kind used in bottles and packaging) into its chemical building blocks, achieving up to seven times better output than leading existing enzymes. By coupling these improved enzymes in a two-step system, the team demonstrated a path toward true closed-loop PET recycling.

2023 Nature Communications 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovery and Biochemical Characterization of a Novel Polyesterase for the Degradation of Synthetic Plastics

Researchers used bioinformatics to discover a new enzyme from soil bacteria capable of breaking down synthetic plastics like PET and polyurethane. The enzyme was successfully expressed and characterized in the lab, offering a promising lead for developing biological plastic recycling approaches.

2020 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics by an engineered Stenotrophomonas pavanii in the presence of biofilm

Scientists engineered a biofilm-forming bacterium to break down PET microplastics (the type found in water bottles and food containers) at room temperature. The engineered bacteria achieved significant PET degradation over 30 days and also worked on other polyester plastics, offering a potential biological solution for cleaning up microplastic pollution in water environments.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing PET Degrading Enzymes: A Combinatory Approach

Scientists worked on improving enzymes that can break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in consumer products. Using a combinatory approach, researchers enhanced the performance of a naturally occurring PET-degrading enzyme from the bacterium Piscinibacter sakaiensis. The study suggests that engineered enzymes could eventually help create a circular economy for plastic waste by enabling efficient recycling at the molecular level.

2024 ChemBioChem 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Whether the wobbling W156 is a pre-requisite for efficient PET biodegradation by IsPETase

Researchers engineered a thermostable variant of the PET-degrading enzyme IsPETase that achieves over 100-fold improvement in PET breakdown efficiency. More effective PET-degrading enzymes could enable industrial-scale recycling of PET plastic, reducing the amount of this common polymer that fragments into microplastics in the ocean.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Marine PET Hydrolase (PET2): Assessment of Terephthalate- and Indole-Based Polyesters Depolymerization

Researchers characterized a marine enzyme (PET2) capable of breaking down PET plastic and related polyester materials under relatively mild conditions. Discovering and engineering enzymes that can degrade PET could help address the massive accumulation of PET microplastics in ocean environments.

2023 Preprints.org 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastics by Bacterial Curli Display PETase

Researchers engineered bacteria to display a PET-degrading enzyme on their surface, creating a reusable biocatalyst capable of breaking down polyethylene terephthalate plastics. The system worked under various conditions, remained stable for at least 30 days, and could even degrade PET microplastics in wastewater and highly crystalline consumer plastic waste. This biological approach offers a promising environmentally friendly alternative for plastic recycling and waste treatment.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in enzyme engineering for improved deconstruction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics

This review covers recent progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in water bottles and food containers. While natural enzymes that digest PET have been discovered, they are not yet fast or durable enough for industrial-scale recycling. Advances in protein engineering, directed evolution, and computational design are steadily improving these enzymes, which could eventually provide a sustainable way to recycle PET and reduce microplastic pollution at its source.

2025 Communications Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Explorations of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolase for addressing PET Plastic Pollution

This review explores the biology of PETase enzymes and their potential for addressing PET plastic pollution, covering the discovery of Ideonella sakaiensis and subsequent enzyme engineering efforts. Developing efficient PET-degrading enzymes is a promising biotechnological strategy for reducing plastic pollution at scale.

2019 The FASEB Journal 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Rational Design of Disulfide Bridges in BbPETaseCD for Enhancing the Enzymatic Performance in PET Degradation

Researchers rationally designed disulfide bridges in BbPETase, a PET-degrading enzyme from a Burkholderiales bacterium, to enhance its thermostability and enzymatic performance, offering a promising avenue for more efficient biological recycling of PET plastic waste.

2023 Molecules 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Message in a Bottle: the Expression and Confirmation of ISF6_4831, a Polyethylene Terephthalate Hydrolase

This study investigated a bacterial enzyme that can degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, one of the top sources of plastic waste globally. The research confirms that biological degradation of PET is feasible and points toward potential biotechnological approaches for breaking down plastic waste.

2018 Digital Commons - Winthrop University (Winthrop University)
Article Tier 2

An efficient strategy to tailor PET hydrolase: Simple preparation with high yield and enhanced hydrolysis to micro-nano plastics

This study developed a simplified, high-yield preparation method for PET-degrading hydrolase enzymes to improve their ability to break down PET nano- and microplastics. The engineered enzyme showed enhanced hydrolysis activity against PET microplastics, offering a more practical route to enzymatic plastic waste treatment.

2024 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 5 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

Engineered polyethylene terephthalate hydrolases: perspectives and limits

This review examines progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in most beverage bottles and synthetic textiles. Researchers found that while significant advances have been made through protein engineering and machine learning, no enzyme yet exists that can efficiently degrade the crystalline form of PET found in real-world waste. The study outlines the key challenges remaining before enzymatic plastic recycling can work at industrial scale, including handling microplastic contamination.

2024 Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 27 citations
Article Tier 2

A versatile assay platform for enzymatic poly(ethylene-terephthalate) degradation

Researchers developed a fast, reliable assay platform for testing enzymes that break down PET plastic, a common component of bottles and packaging. Better enzyme-based recycling tools could help reduce PET accumulation in the environment and the microplastics it generates.

2021 Protein Engineering Design and Selection 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Deep learning-aided redesign of a hydrolase for near 100% PET depolymerization under industrially relevant conditions

Researchers developed TurboPETase, a deep learning-engineered enzyme that achieves near 100% depolymerization of untreated PET containers and post-consumer plastic bottles under industrially relevant conditions, completing full degradation of high concentrations (300 g/L) in as little as 10 hours.

2023 Research Square (Research Square) 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Engineered Mors1 Enzyme from the Antarctic Bacterium Moraxella TA144 for Enhanced Thermal Stability and Activity for Polyethylene Terephthalate Degradation

Researchers engineered an enzyme from an Antarctic bacterium to efficiently degrade PET plastic at low temperatures, improving on natural PET-degrading enzymes that typically require energy-intensive heat. Cold-active plastic-degrading enzymes like this could enable more sustainable, low-energy biological recycling of PET waste.

2025 Processes 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Current advances in the structural biology and molecular engineering of PETase

The study reviews advances in the structural biology and molecular engineering of PETase, an enzyme from the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis that can break down PET plastic at moderate temperatures. Researchers discuss efforts to enhance the enzyme's activity and thermal stability through protein engineering, which could lead to more efficient and environmentally friendly PET recycling strategies.

2023 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 42 citations