Papers

61,005 results
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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

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

Fungal Degradation of Microplastics—An Environmental Need

This review highlights fungi as an underexplored but promising tool for breaking down microplastics in the environment, noting that fungal enzymes can degrade plastics that bacteria struggle with. As conventional physical and chemical methods fall short of addressing the scale of microplastic pollution, fungal biodegradation could offer a practical, scalable complement to existing cleanup strategies.

2026 Toxics
Article Tier 2

Fungal Enzymes Involved in Plastics Biodegradation

Researchers reviewed the current literature on fungal enzymes capable of degrading various types of plastic polymers. The study cataloged different enzyme classes including laccases, peroxidases, and cutinases, describing their characteristics and efficacy against specific plastics. Evidence indicates that fungi offer a promising biological approach to plastic biodegradation due to their diverse array of enzymes specialized in breaking down recalcitrant substances.

2022 Microorganisms 263 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of plastics waste using fungi: A review

This review assessed fungal biodegradation of plastic waste, highlighting species such as Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. that produce specific enzymes capable of breaking down synthetic polymers, positioning fungal pathways as a promising biological approach to plastic waste remediation.

2021 Current Research in Environmental & Applied Mycology 5 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

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

The Potential Role of Marine Fungi in Plastic Degradation – A Review

This review examined the potential role of marine fungi in plastic degradation, highlighting that while terrestrial fungi can metabolize some plastic types, marine fungal-plastic interactions remain largely unexplored despite fungi's known ability to break down recalcitrant compounds.

2021 Frontiers in Marine Science 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Myco-remediation of plastic pollution: current knowledge and future prospects

Researchers reviewed the growing body of evidence showing that fungi can break down common plastics — including polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene — by secreting specialized enzymes that attack and mineralize plastic polymers, with many effective species coming from the Aspergillus and Penicillium families. The review calls for metagenomic approaches to discover more plastic-degrading fungi and develop them into practical bioremediation tools.

2023 Biodegradation 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Breaking down the plastics paradox: polymer degrading microorganisms

This review examines microorganisms capable of degrading plastics, cataloging the bacteria and fungi discovered to break down common polymers like polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET. Identifying and harnessing plastic-degrading microbes could provide biological solutions to the accumulation of microplastics in the environment.

2023 Bulgarian Chemical Communications
Review Tier 2

The Role of Marine Fungi in Degradation of Microplastic and Plastics – a Review

This review examines the role of marine fungi in the biodegradation of microplastics and bulk plastics, synthesising literature on over 400 known plastic-degrading microorganism species and highlighting the most significant fungal groups capable of decomposing plastic materials in marine environments.

2024
Article Tier 2

Myco-degradation of microplastics: an account of identified pathways and analytical methods for their determination

This review examined fungal degradation pathways for microplastics and the analytical methods used to assess biodegradation progress. The study highlights that fungi possess diverse enzymatic systems, including extracellular enzymes, capable of breaking down various plastic polymers, suggesting that fungal bioremediation could be a promising approach for reducing microplastic pollution in the environment.

2022 Biodegradation 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Prospection of marine filamentous fungi in the biodegradation of microplastic

This Brazilian study examined whether marine filamentous fungi can biodegrade microplastics, exploring their enzyme systems and degradation mechanisms. Marine fungi represent an underexplored biological resource for breaking down the plastic pollution accumulating in ocean environments.

2023 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
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

Biodegradation of Plastics by Fungi

This review examines how fungi — including naturally occurring species found in soil and marine environments — can break down common plastic polymers including polyethylene under low-nutrient conditions. Laboratory evidence suggests some fungal species can degrade plastic pellets, reducing their mass and size, offering a potentially cheaper and more ecologically compatible alternative to industrial plastic disposal methods. Scaling up fungal biodegradation remains a challenge, but the findings suggest microbes could play a significant role in reducing environmental microplastic accumulation over time.

2024 2 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

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
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

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

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

Utilization of mushroom for the bioremediation of plastics and polythenes

This review examined the use of fungi (mycoremediation) for breaking down plastics and polythenes, discussing how fungal biofilms overcome the non-hydrolyzable nature of plastic polymers and the potential for mushroom species to degrade plastic waste.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Fungal Enzymes as Catalytic Tools for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Degradation

This review examines the potential of fungal enzymes, including esterases, lipases, and cutinases, to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste. Researchers surveyed the literature on how these biocatalysts work and their effectiveness compared to more widely studied bacterial enzymes. The study suggests that fungal enzymes offer a promising and underexplored avenue for developing eco-friendly PET degradation technologies.

2021 Journal of Fungi 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioremediation of plastics by the help of microbial tool: A way for control of plastic pollution

This review covers how bacteria and fungi can be used to break down plastic waste, including microplastics, through natural biological processes. Various microorganisms can degrade different types of plastics by producing specific enzymes, though the process is slow and depends on the plastic type and environmental conditions. While biological degradation shows promise for reducing microplastic pollution in soil and water, much more research is needed to make it effective enough to address the scale of the problem.

2023 Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 37 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