Papers

20 results
|
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

Microbes mediated plastic degradation: A sustainable approach for environmental sustainability

This review examines microbially mediated plastic degradation as a sustainable environmental cleanup strategy, surveying bacterial and fungal species capable of breaking down common polymers and discussing enzymatic pathways and factors limiting practical biodegradation rates.

2022 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 9 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

Microbe‐mediated biodegradation of microplastics from wastes

Researchers examined microbe-mediated biodegradation of microplastics from waste, reviewing bacterial and fungal species capable of breaking down various plastic polymers and discussing enzymatic mechanisms that could be harnessed for bioremediation strategies.

2023 Water and Environment Journal 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Biodegradation of Plastics and Microplastics: Enzymatic Mechanisms, Biotechnological Applications, and Ecotoxicological Perspectives

This review examined the enzymatic mechanisms by which microorganisms degrade plastics and microplastics, covering biotechnological applications and ecotoxicological perspectives. Researchers found that certain bacterial and fungal enzymes can break down persistent plastic polymers, positioning microbial biodegradation as a promising sustainable remediation approach, though scalability and environmental deployment remain challenges.

2025 Environmental Toxicology and Ecology 1 citations
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

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 degradation of plastic-A brief review

This review examined microbial degradation of plastics, surveying known plastic-degrading bacteria and fungi and the enzymes they produce, while acknowledging that degradation rates in natural environments remain extremely slow and that biotechnology approaches to accelerating biodegradation require further development.

2021 Pure and Applied Biology 17 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

Role of Novel Biological Agents in Plastic Degradation and Mitigation Approach towards Bioplastics

This review examines the role of novel biological agents — including bacteria, fungi, and engineered microorganisms — in degrading synthetic plastics and proposes bioplastics as a mitigation strategy to reduce persistent polymer accumulation in the environment. The authors outline the enzymatic mechanisms involved in breaking down major plastic types and discuss the potential of combining biological degradation with bioplastic adoption.

2025 THE ASIAN BULLETIN OF GREEN MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Article Tier 2

Classification and microbes involved in Plastic biodegradation: A review

This review classifies types of plastics and catalogues the bacteria, fungi, and other microbes involved in plastic biodegradation, examining enzymatic mechanisms and conditions that facilitate microbial breakdown of synthetic polymers. The authors argue that microbial biodegradation offers a more sustainable and less hazardous alternative to physical and chemical disposal methods such as landfill and incineration.

2024 International Journal of Science and Research Archive
Article Tier 2

A Review of Cross-Disciplinary Approaches for the Identification of Novel Industrially Relevant Plastic-Degrading Enzymes

This review surveys cross-disciplinary research identifying microbial enzymes capable of degrading synthetic plastics, highlighting promising candidates from bacteria and fungi that could be engineered for industrial-scale plastic biodegradation.

2022 Sustainability 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Degradation of Plastics

This review covers microbial species capable of degrading synthetic plastics, examining the enzymes and metabolic pathways involved and the environmental conditions that influence breakdown rates. While microbial degradation offers a promising long-term remediation strategy, the review concludes that current rates are far too slow to address the scale of plastic accumulation in the environment.

2023
Article Tier 2

An overview on role of fungi in systematic plastic degradation

This review examines the role of fungi in plastic degradation, surveying fungal species and enzymes capable of breaking down common polymers and discussing their potential for sustainable bioremediation of plastic pollution in the environment.

2022 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastics: Environmental and Biotechnological Perspectives on Microbial Degradation

This review explores the environmental challenges of plastic accumulation and the potential for microorganisms to degrade various types of plastics. Researchers summarized recent discoveries of bacteria and fungi capable of breaking down common plastics like polyethylene and PET, though degradation rates remain slow. The study highlights microbial degradation as a promising but still developing biotechnological approach to addressing plastic pollution.

2019 Applied and Environmental Microbiology 821 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

Plastic biodegradation: Frontline microbes and their enzymes

Researchers reviewed microbial biodegradation of synthetic plastics — including PE, PP, PS, and PET — cataloguing the insects, bacteria, and fungi capable of breaking down these polymers along with the enzymatic mechanisms involved, and outlining paths forward including metabolic pathway engineering and molecular cloning to improve degradation rates.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 663 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Biodegradation of Plastic: A Noble Approach

This review examines microbial biodegradation of synthetic plastics as an alternative to conventional disposal methods, highlighting the capacity of diverse microorganisms to degrade recalcitrant polymers including those involved in agricultural, construction, health, and consumer goods applications. Researchers survey mechanisms by which bacteria and fungi break down non-degradable synthetic polymers such as polyethylene, polystyrene, and PVC.

2024 ACTA SCIENTIFIC MICROBIOLOGY 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Fungal Bioremediation of Microplastics

This review examines how fungi can be used for bioremediation of plastic pollution, covering the enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in fungal plastic degradation. Fungal approaches complement bacterial strategies and may offer unique capabilities for breaking down certain types of plastics in contaminated environments.

2022 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Bio-Conversion Of Plastic Waste Into Sustainable Biofuels: A Comprehensive Review Of Microbial Degradation Approaches

This review examines recent advances in converting plastic waste into sustainable biofuels via microbial degradation, covering the enzymatic and metabolic processes used by bacteria and fungi to break down plastics and the potential of these approaches to address plastic pollution.

2024 IOSR Journal of Environmental Science Toxicology and Food Technology