Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Sustainable Removal of Nanoplastics: Exploiting the Lipolytic Activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa O6 Isolated from Mariout Wetland, Egypt

Egyptian researchers isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa O6 from coastal wetland sediments and demonstrated that its lipolytic enzymes can biodegrade nanoplastics in vitro, presenting a promising microorganism for bioremediation of plastic-contaminated coastal environments.

2024 Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface-programmed microbiome assembly in phycosphere to microplastics contamination

Researchers studied how algal-bacterial communities assemble on microplastic surfaces and their potential role in degrading these pollutants. They found that microplastics in wastewater environments develop distinct microbial communities on their surfaces, with certain bacteria showing enhanced plastic-degrading enzyme activity when associated with algae. The study suggests that engineered algal-bacterial systems could offer a sustainable biological approach to microplastic remediation.

2024 Water Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Fluid dynamics and cell‐bound Psl polysaccharide allows microplastic capture, aggregation and subsequent sedimentation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in water

Researchers found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa captures and aggregates polystyrene microplastics in water via cell-bound Psl exopolysaccharide, with bacterial motility and fluid flow driving further aggregation and sedimentation of microplastic-bacteria assemblies.

2022 Environmental Microbiology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Periphytic biofilm: An innovative approach for biodegradation of microplastics

Researchers investigated periphytic biofilm as a method for biodegrading microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that biofilm-forming microorganisms were capable of colonizing and partially degrading plastic surfaces. The approach offers a low-cost, nature-based strategy for reducing microplastic pollution in waterways.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 224 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
Systematic Review Tier 1

Bioremediation of microplastic pollution: A systematic review on mechanism, analytical methods, innovations, and omics approaches

Researchers systematically reviewed how bacteria, fungi, and algae can break down microplastics through enzymes and biofilms, and how cutting-edge tools like genomics and genetically engineered microbes are improving biodegradation efficiency. While microbial bioremediation is a promising sustainable approach to microplastic pollution, challenges around scalability and varying degradation rates in real environments still need to be overcome.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of microplastics: Advancement in the strategic approaches towards prevention of its accumulation and harmful effects

This review assessed advances in strategic approaches to microplastic biodegradation, covering microbial enzymes, biofilm-mediated degradation, and conditions that enhance breakdown rates, with the goal of identifying practical paths to reducing environmental microplastic accumulation.

2023 Chemosphere 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of microplastic for a sustainable strategy by microbial biodegradation

Researchers reviewed which microorganisms — including Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and several fungi and algae species — show the greatest ability to break down microplastics, and highlighted how genetic engineering and combining multiple degradation methods could make biological plastic cleanup viable at larger scales.

2024 Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 33 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

Immobilized enzyme/microorganism complexes for degradation of microplastics: A review of recent advances, feasibility and future prospects

This review examined advances in immobilized enzyme and microorganism complexes for microplastic degradation, evaluating various nanomaterial supports and highlighting the feasibility and future prospects of enzymatic approaches to removing microplastics from the environment.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 115 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of plastic degrading bacteria isolated from sewage wastewater

Researchers isolated bacteria from sewage wastewater that can degrade plastic, with two Pseudomonas strains achieving 25% weight loss of plastic pieces over 120 days. Chemical analysis confirmed the bacteria were breaking down and transforming the plastic polymer bonds. These plastic-eating bacteria could offer a green biotechnology approach to reducing microplastic pollution in wastewater systems.

2023 Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 38 citations
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

Microplastics biodegradation by biofloc-producing bacteria: An inventive biofloc technology approach

Researchers investigated biofloc-producing bacteria as a novel approach to biodegrade microplastics in aquaculture systems, finding that certain floc-forming bacterial strains can break down plastic particles while simultaneously improving water quality in culture environments.

2022 Microbiological Research 36 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 International Journal of Integrative Studies (IJIS)
Article Tier 2

Microbial strategies for effective microplastics biodegradation: Insights and innovations in environmental remediation

This review explores how bacteria and their enzymes can break down microplastics through oxidative degradation, offering a biological approach to cleaning up plastic pollution. The paper highlights innovative pretreatment methods that make plastics more accessible to microbial breakdown and positions microbial strategies as a promising frontline solution for removing microplastics from ecosystems before they can enter the food chain and affect human health.

2024 Environmental Research 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic-Degrading Microbial Consortia from a Wastewater Treatment Plant

Researchers isolated bacteria from a wastewater treatment plant that can break down common plastics including polyethylene and polystyrene, some of the hardest plastics to recycle. The microbial communities worked together to degrade the plastics more effectively than individual bacterial strains. While biological plastic degradation is still slow compared to the scale of pollution, identifying these bacteria is a step toward developing biotechnology solutions for plastic waste cleanup.

2024 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 12 citations
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

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.

2024 Biotechnology for Sustainable Materials 64 citations
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
Article Tier 2

Enzyme_Metal‐Organic Framework Composites as Novel Approach for Microplastic Degradation

Researchers developed a new approach to breaking down microplastics by embedding a plastic-degrading enzyme inside a metal-organic framework, a porous crystalline material. The combined system eliminated 37% of a common plastic degradation product from contaminated water within 24 hours through both enzymatic breakdown and adsorption. The method could potentially be reused across multiple treatment cycles, offering a more practical and cost-effective strategy for cleaning microplastic pollution from water.

2024 ChemSusChem 24 citations