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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Functional interplay between plastic polymers and microbes: a comprehensive review
ClearMicrobial 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.
Biodegradation of macro- and micro-plastics in environment: A review on mechanism, toxicity, and future perspectives.
This review examined mechanisms, toxicology, and future perspectives for biodegradation of macro- and micro-plastics, cataloguing microbial species capable of polymer degradation, discussing enzymatic pathways, and identifying key limitations including slow degradation rates and the need for pretreatment to accelerate breakdown in environmental settings.
Microbial biodegradation of plastics: Challenges, opportunities, and a critical perspective
Researchers reviewed microbial biodegradation of synthetic plastics, summarizing the bacterial and fungal species, enzymes, and biochemical pathways capable of breaking down common polymers and arguing that combining microbial approaches with physicochemical methods offers the most promising eco-friendly route to plastic waste remediation.
Microbial degradation of plastics in the environment: Mechanisms, enzymatic pathways, and constraints from laboratory studies to environmental reality
Researchers reviewed microbial and insect-mediated plastic biodegradation, finding that while a wide range of bacteria and fungi can degrade common polymers and PETase enzymes have been substantially improved through protein engineering, degradation rates measured in optimized laboratory settings likely overestimate real-world performance under natural constraints like low temperature and nutrient limitation.
Microbial Degradation of Plastics
This review examines microbial degradation of plastics in the environment, discussing how environmental breakdown of plastics generates microplastic particles that accumulate in plants and animals and cause metabolic disruptions, while exploring the potential of microorganisms to break down plastic polymers.
Microbial Degradation of Plastic Polymers
This review examines microbial degradation pathways for common synthetic plastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC, polyurethane, and PET, describing how mechanical and biological processes fragment plastics into microplastics and how microorganisms can be leveraged to address plastic pollution in aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Enhancement of environmental microplastics (MPs) degradation via bacteria under stress conditions: key enzymes, pathways, and mechanisms
This review focuses on bacterial, enzymatic, and insect-mediated strategies for microplastic biodegradation, evaluating the effectiveness of multi-organism approaches that combine different degrading agents to enhance the breakdown rate of persistent plastic polymers in the environment.
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.
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.
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.
Effect of digestion system on microstructures of microplastics from biodegradable polyesters and impact of these microplastics on microorganisms in digestion system
Researchers systematically examined how the digestive system alters the surface microstructure and chemical composition of biodegradable microplastics (including PBAT and PLA products), and reciprocally how these bio-microplastics affect probiotics and other digestive microorganisms, finding that both virgin and UV-aged biodegradable plastics interact with the gut environment.
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.
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.
Assembly strategies for polyethylene-degrading microbial consortia based on the combination of omics tools and the "Plastisphere".
This review examines the microorganisms and enzymes capable of degrading polyethylene and discusses how combining genomic tools with studies of plastic-associated microbial communities could lead to more effective biodegradation strategies. The findings suggest that engineered microbial consortia guided by omics data hold promise for breaking down one of the world's most persistent plastics.
Why have we not yet solved the challenge of plastic degradation by biological means?
This review explores why biological plastic degradation remains unsolved despite decades of research, examining the limitations of microbial and enzymatic approaches and arguing that complementary strategies combining multiple methods will be needed.
Biological Degradation of Plastics and Microplastics: A Recent Perspective on Associated Mechanisms and Influencing Factors
This review looks at how bacteria and their enzymes can break down different types of plastics and microplastics through biological processes. Understanding these natural degradation pathways is important because they could be harnessed to reduce the amount of persistent microplastic pollution that accumulates in the environment and eventually enters the human food chain.
The Biodegradation of Plastic by Microorganisms
This review examines how the chemical composition of plastics influences their susceptibility to biodegradation by microorganisms, discussing the diverse biophysical-chemical properties of synthetic polymers that affect microbial degradation rates across different environmental contexts.
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.
Management of Environmental Plastic Pollution: a Comparison of Existing Strategies and Emerging Solutions from Nature
Researchers reviewed the full landscape of plastic waste management strategies — from production controls and recycling to biological degradation — finding that while traditional approaches have had mixed results, newly discovered plastic-eating microbes and enzymes offer a promising complementary path to reducing the global plastic burden.
Biodegradation of Plastic and the Role of Microbial Enzymes in Plastic Waste Management
This review examines how microbial enzymes, particularly PET hydrolases and oxidative enzymes, can depolymerize and break down common plastic polymers through biological degradation. The study suggests that enzymatic approaches to plastic waste management offer a promising complement to mechanical and chemical recycling, though optimizing enzyme activity and scaling up the process remain key challenges.
Characteristic Features of Plastic Microbial Degradation
This book chapter reviews the characteristics of microbial plastic degradation, covering the enzymes, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions that affect breakdown rates for different polymer types. Understanding microbial degradation mechanisms is foundational to developing biological solutions for microplastic pollution.
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.
Investigating the roles of microbes in biodegrading or colonizing microplastic surfaces
Researchers investigated the roles of microbes in biodegrading or colonizing microplastic surfaces, examining how microbial communities interact with plastic polymers in environmental settings. The study characterized the 'plastisphere' — the community of microorganisms that colonize microplastic surfaces — and assessed the extent to which microbial activity contributes to plastic degradation in natural environments.
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.