Papers

61,005 results
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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

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

Microorganism-Based Bioremediation Approach for Plastics and Microplastics Wastes

Soil bacteria were isolated and screened for plastic-degrading capacity, with one of five isolates showing the highest low-density polyethylene (LDPE) degradation, demonstrating that soil-derived actinobacteria and other bacteria can contribute to bioremediation of plastic waste.

2024
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

Challenges and opportunities in bioremediation of micro-nano plastics: A review.

This review examines biological approaches to removing micro- and nanoplastics from the environment, focusing on microbial degradation and bioremediation strategies. While bioremediation holds promise, challenges remain in identifying microbes capable of degrading common plastic types and scaling these processes for practical environmental cleanup.

2022 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Microbial Allies in Plastic Degradation: Specific bacterial genera as universal plastic-degraders in various environments

Researchers identified specific bacterial genera capable of degrading multiple types of plastic across different environments including landfill soil, sewage sludge, and river water. They found that certain bacteria, such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus species, consistently appeared as effective plastic degraders regardless of the environment. The study suggests that these universal plastic-degrading bacteria could be valuable candidates for developing bioremediation strategies to address plastic pollution.

2024 Chemosphere 18 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 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

Characterization of microplastic degrading bacteria isolated from the Putri Cempo landfill

Researchers isolated bacteria from a landfill in Indonesia and characterized their ability to degrade microplastics, identifying indigenous strains with potential for use in bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2024 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 1 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

Application of MicroResp™ for quick and easy detection of plastic degradation by marine bacterial isolates

Researchers adapted the MicroResp colorimetric respiration system as a rapid 3-day screening assay to identify marine bacteria capable of degrading biodegradable plastics, demonstrating it can detect biodegradation of PBSA, PCL, and polyhydroxy compounds in strains that conventional clear-zone plate methods failed to identify.

2024 Marine Environmental Research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Evidence of Plastic Degrading Bacteria in Aquatic Environment

This review examines evidence for plastic-degrading bacteria in aquatic environments, summarizing identified microorganisms and their enzymatic mechanisms capable of breaking down plastic materials, and discussing the potential application of these organisms in bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2022 Journal of Biological and Allied Health Sciences
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

Strategies for biofilm optimization of plastic-degrading microorganisms and isolating biofilm formers from plastic-contaminated environments

This study investigated biofilm formation as a prerequisite for microbial plastic degradation, both optimizing biofilm formation in known plastic degraders and isolating novel biofilm formers from plastic-contaminated environments. Strategies to enhance surface colonization were evaluated as a practical step toward improving plastic biodegradation efficiency.

2024 Sustainable Microbiology 8 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

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.

2022 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 88 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
Article Tier 2

Bioprospecting indigenous bacteria from landfill leachate for enhanced polypropylene microplastics degradation

Researchers isolated bacteria from landfill leachate to test their ability to degrade polypropylene microplastics. They identified a novel Staphylococcus haemolyticus strain that reduced polypropylene dry weight by over 25% in 30 days, with surface and chemical analysis confirming structural degradation through hydrolysis and oxidation.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 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

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.

2025 World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2 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

A highly efficient multi-step methodology for the quantification of micro-(bio)plastics in sludge

This study developed a multi-step method to quantify both conventional microplastics and starch-based bioplastic microparticles in sewage sludge. The method is important because bioplastic bags used in food waste collection may survive treatment processes and contaminate compost later applied to agricultural land.

2020 Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 24 citations
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