Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Directed Immobilization of PETase on Mesoporous Silica Enables Sustained Depolymerase Activity in Synthetic Wastewater Conditions

Researchers developed a PETase enzyme immobilized on mesoporous silica nanoparticles that showed up to 6.2-fold increased activity and 2.5-fold enhanced stability for degrading PET microfibers under simulated wastewater conditions.

2022 ACS Applied Bio Materials 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of PET Plastics by Wastewater Bacteria Engineered via Conjugation

Researchers demonstrated a proof-of-concept approach for reducing PET microplastic pollution in wastewater by engineering bacteria in situ via conjugation to express PET-degrading enzymes. The study used a broad-host-range conjugative plasmid to transfer PET hydrolase genes into native wastewater bacterial communities.

2024 1 citations
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

Biodegradation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Microplastics by Baceterial Communities From Activated Sludge

Scientists isolated bacteria from wastewater treatment sludge that can biodegrade PET plastic, used in plastic bottles and food packaging. The bacteria broke down PET microplastics over a 60-day period, pointing toward a potential biological tool for removing plastic contamination from water treatment systems.

2021
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Microplastics by Baceterial Communities From Activated Sludge

Scientists isolated bacteria from wastewater treatment sludge that can biodegrade PET plastic, used in plastic bottles and food packaging. The bacteria broke down PET microplastics over a 60-day period, pointing toward a potential biological tool for removing plastic contamination from water treatment systems.

2021 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

Targeted aggregation of PETase towards surface of Stenotrophomonas pavanii for degradation of PET microplastics

Researchers developed a strategy to target PETase enzyme to the surface of Stenotrophomonas pavanii bacteria, improving the efficiency of in-situ PET microplastic degradation. Surface-displayed PETase showed significantly enhanced PET hydrolysis compared to free enzyme, offering a practical approach to microbial degradation of dispersed PET microplastics in environmental settings.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
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

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

Silica immobilized PETase for microplastic bioremediation: Influence of linker peptides on activity

Researchers immobilized a modified PETase enzyme onto silica using different linker peptides and tested its ability to break down PET microplastics, finding that linker peptide design significantly influenced enzyme activity and reusability — key parameters for practical application in wastewater treatment.

2025 Enzyme and Microbial Technology
Article Tier 2

Impact of Enzymatic Degradation on the Material Properties of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate)

This study tested whether a plastic-degrading enzyme (PETase) could break down recycled PET plastic and whether the degradation changed its material properties in ways that could affect fragmentation into microplastics. Enzyme treatment caused visible surface degradation and reduced the plastic's strength. Understanding how biological degradation alters plastic properties helps predict how PET breaks down into microplastics in the environment.

2021 Polymers 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Degradation of PET plastic

This study tested commercial-grade enzymes for degrading PET plastic and found that enzymatic degradation was effective at laboratory scale but faced challenges for real-world application. Scaling up enzymatic PET recycling could reduce the persistence of plastic waste that eventually fragments into microplastics in the environment.

2023 ARPHA Conference Abstracts
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

Application of PETase in Plastic Biodegradation and Its Synthesis

This review examines how PETase enzymes can be used to biodegrade plastic waste, particularly polyethylene terephthalate, which is one of the most widely used plastics globally. Researchers discuss recent advances in modifying PETase enzymes for improved efficiency and establishing sustainable synthesis platforms. The study suggests that enzymatic biodegradation offers a promising biological solution to the growing plastic pollution crisis.

2024 E3S Web of Conferences 2 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

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

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

Enzymatic remediation of polyester microfibers in sewage sludge and green compost samples

Researchers tested a heat-tolerant enzyme (LCC ICCG cutinase) on PET plastic microfibers in sewage sludge and compost, successfully breaking down up to 16.6 mg of PET per cubic centimeter within 24 hours — demonstrating that enzyme-based bioremediation could help remove microplastics from agricultural biofertilizers before they contaminate soil.

2025 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2 citations
Article Tier 2

An archaeal lid-containing feruloyl esterase degrades polyethylene terephthalate

Researchers identified the first known archaeal enzyme capable of degrading polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a major plastic pollutant found worldwide. The enzyme, called PET46, comes from a deep-sea archaeon and showed degradation activity on PET comparable to previously known bacterial enzymes. The study expands the known diversity of plastic-degrading enzymes and suggests that organisms from extreme environments may harbor useful tools for addressing plastic pollution.

2023 Communications Chemistry 58 citations
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

Increased cytoplasmic expression of PETase enzymes in E. coli.

Researchers optimized the production of PETase — an enzyme that breaks down PET plastic — in E. coli bacteria, achieving higher yields of active enzyme using a bioreactor. Improving enzyme production methods is a key step toward scaling up biological plastic recycling to address PET pollution in the environment.

2024 Microbial cell factories
Article Tier 2

Current knowledge on enzymatic PET degradation and its possible application to waste stream management and other fields

This review distinguished between enzymatic PET surface modification (useful for fiber treatment) and enzymatic PET degradation (needed for waste management), cataloguing the hydrolases capable of each function and the conditions required. The authors evaluate the prospects for deploying PET-degrading enzymes in industrial plastic waste streams.

2019 Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 576 citations
Article Tier 2

Breakdown of polyethylene therepthalate microplastics under saltwater conditions using engineered Vibrio natriegens

Scientists engineered a marine bacterium, Vibrio natriegens, to break down PET plastic into its basic chemical building blocks in saltwater conditions at moderate temperatures. The engineered bacteria display enzymes on their cell surface that can depolymerize PET without needing any pretreatment of the plastic. This biological approach could eventually help address ocean microplastic pollution, though significant work remains to scale the technology from the laboratory to real-world applications.

2023 AIChE Journal 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of Synthetic Biology in Microbial and Enzymatic Systems for Microplastic Degradation: A Review

This review examines how synthetic biology is being used to enhance the biological breakdown of microplastics, covering advances in enzyme engineering, whole-cell engineering, and metabolic pathway design. Researchers have achieved significant improvements in plastic-degrading enzymes like PETase through directed evolution and machine learning, enabling depolymerization of consumer plastics under increasingly mild industrial conditions.

2026 Sustainable Environmental Insight