Beijing Bioprocess Key Laboratory, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, PR China.
Institute of Biochemistry, University of Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Straße 4, D-17487, Greifswald, Germany.
J Environ Manage. 2020 Jun 1;263:110402. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110402. Epub 2020 Mar 10.
Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widespread plastic materials. Nevertheless, due to its recalcitrance against biological degradation and the presence of toxic additives, landfilled and carelessly disposed PE products have caused serious pollution in the natural environments. In this work, we aimed to investigate the growth characteristics of Microbulbifer hydrolyticus IRE-31 and its application in the biological degradation of low-density PE. The IRE-31 strain was isolated from marine pulp mill wastes rich in lignin which is a natural complex polymer containing also saturated carbon-carbon bonds like in PE. Following 30 days cultivation of the IRE-31 strain, the biodegradation of linear low-density PE particles was evidenced clearly by morphological changes of the polymer surface monitored by scanning electron microscopy and the formation of additional carbonyl groups in the polymer chains indicated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
聚乙烯（PE）是应用最广泛的塑料材料之一。然而，由于其对生物降解的顽固性以及存在有毒添加剂，填埋和随意丢弃的 PE 产品在自然环境中造成了严重的污染。在这项工作中，我们旨在研究水解微杆菌 IRE-31 的生长特性及其在低密度聚乙烯生物降解中的应用。IRE-31 菌株是从富含木质素的海洋纸浆厂废物中分离出来的，木质素是一种天然的复杂聚合物，也含有像 PE 一样的饱和碳-碳键。IRE-31 菌株培养 30 天后，通过扫描电子显微镜监测聚合物表面的形态变化以及聚合物链中形成的额外羰基基团，清楚地证明了线性低密度聚乙烯颗粒的生物降解。
