Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics under siege: Biofilm-forming marine bacteria from the microplastisphere and their role in plastic degradation

Researchers isolated and screened bacteria from microplastics collected along coastal beaches of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to assess their ability to degrade plastic. One bacterial strain achieved over 10% degradation of low-density polyethylene, with surface analysis confirming physical breakdown of the plastic. The study suggests that naturally occurring marine bacteria colonizing microplastics may play a role in plastic biodegradation in ocean environments.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine bacteria capable of enzymatic degrading of low- and high-density polyethylene: Toward sustainable mitigation of marine microplastic pollution

Scientists discovered ocean bacteria that can break down common plastic types found in marine pollution, with some bacteria destroying up to 17% of the plastic in lab tests. These naturally occurring bacteria could potentially be used to help clean up the tiny plastic particles that contaminate our oceans and eventually enter our food chain through seafood. While still in early research stages, this finding offers hope for a biological solution to reduce the microplastics that may pose health risks when we consume contaminated fish and shellfish.

2026 Journal of Ecological Engineering
Article Tier 2

Development of tailored indigenous marine consortia for the degradation of naturally weathered polyethylene films

Researchers developed tailored indigenous marine bacterial consortia for polyethylene degradation, conducting a two-phase microcosm experiment that bioaugmented naturally weathered PE films with strains capable of using low-density polyethylene as a sole carbon source.

2017 PLoS ONE 119 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria breakdown poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

Scientists used microcosm studies to investigate whether marine hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria can break down PET plastic, finding that specific bacterial strains could colonize and degrade PET surfaces, offering insights into natural plastic biodegradation in the ocean.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial screening in Indian coastal regions for efficient polypropylene microplastics biodegradation

Researchers screened marine bacteria from two coastal regions in India for their ability to break down polypropylene microplastics. They identified several bacterial strains that caused measurable weight loss and structural changes in polypropylene particles over a 60-day period. The study suggests that naturally occurring marine bacteria could potentially be harnessed for biological approaches to reducing microplastic pollution in ocean environments.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of untreated plasticizers-free linear low-density polyethylene films by marine bacteria

Researchers isolated marine bacteria from the Tyrrhenian Sea and found that several strains — including Bacillus velezensis and two Vreelandella species — could break down untreated polyethylene plastic films in seawater, causing mass losses of up to 2.6% over 60 days. This is the first study demonstrating that these bacterial species can biodegrade plasticizer-free, unmodified polyethylene, an important step toward understanding natural plastic degradation in oceans.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role Of Bacteria In Microplastic Bioremediation And Implications For Marine Ecosystems

This literature review summarizes how bacteria can be harnessed through bioremediation to break down microplastics in marine environments, cataloging the bacterial species and mechanisms involved. While biological degradation is slow and not yet a practical cleanup solution at scale, identifying effective bacteria is an important step toward developing tools to reduce the long-term accumulation of microplastics in ocean ecosystems.

2024 BIO Web of Conferences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation assessment of polymer-based films by bacterial species in the marine environment and its correlation with microplastic production and toxicity

Researchers tested five polymer-based film materials in marine environments and measured biodegradation, bacterial colonization, and microplastic formation, finding that polymer composition strongly determines both marine biodegradability and the amount of microplastic debris generated during degradation.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Isolation and Characterization of Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate-degrading Bacteria from Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

Researchers isolated bacteria from Jakarta Bay, Indonesia, that showed the ability to degrade polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics in laboratory conditions. They identified the most effective bacterial strains and confirmed plastic degradation through weight loss measurements and surface analysis. The study supports the potential of using naturally occurring marine bacteria for bioremediation of plastic-polluted coastal environments.

2024 The Open Biotechnology Journal 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Putative degraders of low‐density polyethylene‐derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic‐associated bacterial communities in the marine environment

This study compared bacterial communities on plastic debris from the Pacific, North Atlantic, and northern Adriatic to identify potential plastic-degrading microbes, finding that putative LDPE-degraders are widespread and common members of ocean plastic biofilms. The widespread distribution of plastic-degrading bacteria in ocean environments suggests that biological plastic breakdown is occurring in the ocean, but at an unknown rate.

2020 Environmental Microbiology 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Biofilm development as a factor driving the degradation of plasticised marine microplastics

Researchers investigated how natural marine biofilms drive the degradation of plasticized microplastics. The study found that biodegradation was dependent on polymer type, plasticizer type, and time, with polystyrene containing bisphenol A showing the most degradation, coinciding with increased abundance of putative biodegradative bacteria in the colonizing biofilm.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial Abundance, Diversity and Activity During Long-Term Colonization of Non-biodegradable and Biodegradable Plastics in Seawater

Biofilm communities on conventional (polyethylene and polystyrene) and biodegradable plastics were tracked over 7 months of seawater immersion, finding highly abundant and diverse plastisphere communities on all polymer types but limited evidence of active plastic biodegradation under natural marine conditions.

2021 Frontiers in Microbiology 84 citations
Article Tier 2

A multi-OMIC characterisation of biodegradation and microbial community succession within the PET plastisphere

Researchers performed a multi-omic analysis of bacterial communities colonizing PET plastic in marine environments, identifying microorganisms capable of degrading PET and characterizing the enzymatic pathways involved, advancing understanding of natural plastic biodegradation in ocean systems.

2021 Microbiome 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of textile waste by marine bacterial communities enhanced by light

Researchers found that marine bacterial communities could biodegrade both synthetic textile fibers and polyethylene microbeads, with light exposure enhancing degradation. The findings suggest that certain environmental conditions can promote natural microbial breakdown of plastic debris in coastal seawater.

2020 Environmental Microbiology Reports 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Promoting bacterial colonization and biofilm formation for enhanced biodegradation of low-density polyethylene microplastics

Four bacterial strains isolated from marine plastic debris — including Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus luteus — were shown to form biofilms on low-density polyethylene and produce biosurfactants, with biofilm promotion strategies enhancing polyethylene biodegradation rates.

2025 Bioresources and Bioprocessing 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the degradation of high-density polyethylene microplastics using microbial strains: Effect of process parameters, degradation kinetics and modeling

Researchers tested several microbial strains for their ability to break down high-density polyethylene microplastics and developed models to predict degradation rates. Certain bacteria and fungi showed measurable ability to deteriorate the plastic surface over weeks of exposure. The study contributes to the development of biological approaches for remediating microplastic pollution in the environment.

2023 Waste Management 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms

Researchers studied how quickly bacteria colonize low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal marine sediments, finding rapid colonization within days and progressive development of complex biofilm communities. The study highlights that plastic particles in coastal sediments quickly become biologically active surfaces that may influence their fate and ecological interactions.

2014 BMC Microbiology 530 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbiological Characterization of the Biofilms Colonizing Bioplastics in Natural Marine Conditions: A Comparison between PHBV and PLA

Researchers characterized biofilm communities colonizing bioplastics and conventional plastics in natural marine conditions, finding that bioplastic surfaces hosted distinct microbial communities compared to petroleum-based plastics, with implications for biodegradation and ecological interactions.

2023 Microorganisms 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Biofilms in the Degradation of Microplastics

This review examines the role of microbial biofilms in degrading microplastics, presenting insights into how microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces may contribute to the breakdown of microplastic particles in aquatic and terrestrial environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Potensi Mikroorganisme Sebagai Agen Bioremediasi Mikroplastik Di Laut

This Indonesian review examines microorganisms with the potential to biodegrade microplastics in marine environments, including bacteria that can use plastic as a carbon source. Identifying plastic-degrading microbes is a step toward developing biological remediation strategies for marine microplastic pollution.

2020 OSEANA 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using marine bacteria isolated from tropical beaches of megacity Mumbai

Marine bacteria isolated from plastic debris buried in beach sediments at seven Mumbai beaches were able to colonize and partially degrade low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic. Identifying bacteria naturally adapted to plastic-rich marine environments is a step toward developing biological tools for plastic degradation, though the process is currently far too slow to address the scale of ocean plastic pollution without significant enhancement.

2024 Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Enrichment and isolation of micro plastic degrading microorganisms from various natural sources

Researchers isolated microplastic-degrading microorganisms from soil and water samples using mineral salt media with polyethylene and polypropylene as sole carbon sources, successfully identifying four distinct microbial isolates capable of degrading these polymers.

2024 Ecology Environment and Conservation
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable plastics in Mediterranean coastal environments feature contrasting microbial succession

Researchers incubated biodegradable and conventional plastics in three Mediterranean coastal environments for 22 months and found that the surrounding habitat — not the plastic type — primarily shaped which microbes colonized the surface. Despite some putative plastic-degrading bacteria being present, there was no consistent community of microbes clearly linked to biodegradable plastic breakdown in natural marine settings.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of subµ-sized bioplastics by clinically important bacteria under sediment and seawater conditions: Impact on the bacteria responses.

Researchers found that clinically important bacteria colonized submicron-sized bioplastic particles in both seawater and sediment and showed biochemical stress responses to the bioplastics. The ability of pathogens to form biofilms on bioplastic surfaces in marine environments raises concerns that bioplastics, like conventional plastics, could act as vectors for disease-causing microorganisms.

2021 Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering