Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Process development for PETase production and purification

Researchers developed a production and purification process for PETase, an enzyme capable of breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic biologically, as an alternative to inadequate mechanical and chemical recycling methods for mixed and contaminated PET waste. The study addresses the global plastic pollution crisis by advancing the scalability of enzymatic PET degradation as a sustainable recycling pathway.

2024
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastics by Bacterial Curli Display PETase

Researchers engineered bacteria to display a PET-degrading enzyme on their surface, creating a reusable biocatalyst capable of breaking down polyethylene terephthalate plastics. The system worked under various conditions, remained stable for at least 30 days, and could even degrade PET microplastics in wastewater and highly crystalline consumer plastic waste. This biological approach offers a promising environmentally friendly alternative for plastic recycling and waste treatment.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Display of PETase on the cell surface of Escherichia coli using the anchor protein PgsA

This study engineered bacteria to display a PET-degrading enzyme (PETase) on their cell surface, eliminating the costly step of purifying the enzyme for plastic breakdown. The approach could reduce the cost of biological PET plastic recycling, potentially offering a more scalable pathway for breaking down one of the most common plastic types.

2023
Article Tier 2

Enhancing PET Degrading Enzymes: A Combinatory Approach

Scientists worked on improving enzymes that can break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in consumer products. Using a combinatory approach, researchers enhanced the performance of a naturally occurring PET-degrading enzyme from the bacterium Piscinibacter sakaiensis. The study suggests that engineered enzymes could eventually help create a circular economy for plastic waste by enabling efficient recycling at the molecular level.

2024 ChemBioChem 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Biểu hiện, tinh sạch và đánh giá sơ bộ hoạt tính phân hủy nhựa PET của enzyme PETase tái tổ hợp

Vietnamese researchers successfully expressed and purified recombinant PETase enzyme — which breaks down PET plastic — finding optimal expression conditions and that adding glycerol and DTT enhanced its plastic-degrading activity. This is directly relevant to microplastic research as PETase-based biodegradation is a promising biological approach to reducing PET plastic waste and microplastic generation.

2023 Journal of Science and Technology
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of highly crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate) through cell surface codisplay of bacterial PETase and hydrophobin

Researchers engineered yeast cells to display both a PET-degrading enzyme (PETase) and a sticky protein (hydrophobin) on their surface simultaneously, dramatically improving the breakdown of highly crystalline PET plastic — achieving a 329-fold increase in degradation rate compared to the purified enzyme alone. This whole-cell biocatalyst approach could make enzymatic plastic recycling far more practical and efficient.

2022 Nature Communications 126 citations
Article Tier 2

Development and characterization of a bacterial enzyme cascade reaction system for efficient and stable PET degradation

Scientists engineered a bacterial system that displays plastic-degrading enzymes on the cell surface to efficiently break down PET plastic, achieving a 23% degradation rate of microplastics within 7 days. The system uses E. coli bacteria with specially designed protein fibers that both grip and digest PET fragments. This biotechnology approach could eventually help address the growing problem of microplastic pollution in water and soil environments.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Biểu hiện, tinh sạch và đánh giá sơ bộ hoạt tính phân hủy nhựa PET của enzyme PETase tái tổ hợp

Researchers expressed and purified recombinant PETase enzyme in Escherichia coli, optimising induction conditions to 4.5 hours at 30 degrees Celsius with 0.01 mM IPTG, and confirmed that the purified enzyme with glycerol and DTT additives effectively hydrolyses PET plastic.

2024 Journal of Science and Technology
Article Tier 2

Eco-Microbiology: Discovering Biochemical Enhancers of PET Biodegradation by Piscinibacter sakaiensis

This paper reviews biochemical strategies for enhancing PET biodegradation by microorganisms, focusing on the discovery and engineering of plastic-degrading enzymes. The review highlights recent advances and remaining challenges in scaling up enzymatic plastic degradation for industrial applications.

2024
Article Tier 2

An efficient strategy to tailor PET hydrolase: Simple preparation with high yield and enhanced hydrolysis to micro-nano plastics

This study developed a simplified, high-yield preparation method for PET-degrading hydrolase enzymes to improve their ability to break down PET nano- and microplastics. The engineered enzyme showed enhanced hydrolysis activity against PET microplastics, offering a more practical route to enzymatic plastic waste treatment.

2024 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Perspectives on the Role of Enzymatic Biocatalysis for the Degradation of Plastic PET

This review discusses the role of enzymatic biocatalysis in PET plastic degradation, examining how the discovery of PETase and subsequent enzyme engineering have advanced biodegradation as an alternative to chemical and mechanical recycling for one of the most produced plastics globally.

2021 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 97 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

Development of a yeast whole-cell biocatalyst for MHET conversion into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol

Researchers engineered baker's yeast to display plastic-degrading enzymes on its cell surface, demonstrating a simpler and potentially cheaper approach to breaking down PET plastic — the material used in bottles — without requiring the costly step of purifying the enzymes first.

2022 Microbial Cell Factories 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Modulating biofilm can potentiate activity of novel plastic-degrading enzymes

Researchers discovered two new enzymes capable of breaking down PET plastic (the kind used in plastic bottles) and found that boosting a bacterium's ability to form a biofilm — a sticky coating that helps bacteria cling to surfaces — significantly increased how fast the enzymes could degrade plastic. This biofilm strategy could help accelerate the development of biological plastic-recycling systems for waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

2023 npj Biofilms and Microbiomes 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of PETase in Plastic Biodegradation and Its Synthesis

This review examines how PETase enzymes can be used to biodegrade plastic waste, particularly polyethylene terephthalate, which is one of the most widely used plastics globally. Researchers discuss recent advances in modifying PETase enzymes for improved efficiency and establishing sustainable synthesis platforms. The study suggests that enzymatic biodegradation offers a promising biological solution to the growing plastic pollution crisis.

2024 E3S Web of Conferences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of PET plastic with engineered environmental bacteria

Scientists engineered a soil bacterium to break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in food packaging and textiles, by giving it the ability to produce and secrete a powerful plastic-degrading enzyme. This is one of the first demonstrations of a living microorganism that can directly consume PET as a food source, which could lead to more sustainable recycling approaches.

2024 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards synthetic PETtrophy: Engineering Pseudomonas putida for concurrent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) monomer metabolism and PET hydrolase expression

Researchers engineered a soil bacterium to simultaneously break down PET plastic and use its building-block chemicals as food, identifying key bottlenecks in balancing enzyme production with bacterial fitness that will need to be resolved before such microbes can be used for large-scale plastic biodegradation.

2022 Microbial Cell Factories 62 citations
Article Tier 2

A high‐throughput expression and screening platform for applications‐driven PETase engineering

Researchers developed a high-throughput platform for engineering PETase enzymes — which break down plastic polyester — by using secretory expression to eliminate purification steps, enabling faster screening of enzyme variants for industrial plastic biodegradation applications.

2022 Biotechnology and Bioengineering 28 citations
Article Tier 2

A versatile assay platform for enzymatic poly(ethylene-terephthalate) degradation

Researchers developed a fast, reliable assay platform for testing enzymes that break down PET plastic, a common component of bottles and packaging. Better enzyme-based recycling tools could help reduce PET accumulation in the environment and the microplastics it generates.

2021 Protein Engineering Design and Selection 14 citations
Article Tier 2

An Overview into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolases and Efforts in Tailoring Enzymes for Improved Plastic Degradation

This review examines the discovery and engineering of PET-degrading enzymes including PETase and cutinase variants, discussing protein engineering strategies to improve catalytic efficiency and thermostability for practical biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 120 citations
Article Tier 2

Explorations of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolase for addressing PET Plastic Pollution

This review explores the biology of PETase enzymes and their potential for addressing PET plastic pollution, covering the discovery of Ideonella sakaiensis and subsequent enzyme engineering efforts. Developing efficient PET-degrading enzymes is a promising biotechnological strategy for reducing plastic pollution at scale.

2019 The FASEB Journal 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovery and mechanism-guided engineering of BHET hydrolases for improved PET recycling and upcycling

Researchers identified and engineered two enzymes — called BHETases — that efficiently break down PET plastic (the kind used in bottles and packaging) into its chemical building blocks, achieving up to seven times better output than leading existing enzymes. By coupling these improved enzymes in a two-step system, the team demonstrated a path toward true closed-loop PET recycling.

2023 Nature Communications 86 citations
Article Tier 2

A New PETase from the Human Saliva Metagenome and Its Functional Modification via Genetic Code Expansion in Bacteria

Researchers discovered and engineered a new PETase enzyme from human saliva metagenome data, demonstrating its ability to break down PET plastic. Functional modifications improved its catalytic efficiency, contributing to the development of biological tools for plastic recycling.

2023 Angewandte Chemie 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Remediation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)–Based Polymers for Effective Management of Plastic Wastes: An Overview

Enzymatic approaches for remediating PET-based plastic waste were reviewed, covering PETase and related enzymes that can break PET into reusable monomers. Enzyme engineering strategies to improve thermostability and catalytic efficiency are discussed as a pathway to scalable biological PET recycling.

2020 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 193 citations