Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain.
Centro de Bioinnovación de Antofagasta (CBIA), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Recursos Biológicos, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.
Microb Biotechnol. 2024 Apr;17(4):e14457. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.14457.
Plastics are versatile materials that have the potential to propel humanity towards circularity and ultimate societal sustainability. However, the escalating concern surrounding plastic pollution has garnered significant attention, leading to widespread negative perceptions of these materials. Here, we question the role microbes may play in plastic pollution bioremediation by (i) defining polymer biodegradability (i.e., recalcitrant, hydrolysable and biodegradable polymers) and (ii) reviewing best practices for evaluating microbial biodegradation of plastics. We establish recommendations to facilitate the implementation of rigorous methodologies in future studies on plastic biodegradation, aiming to push this field towards the use of isotopic labelling to confirm plastic biodegradation and further determine the molecular mechanisms involved.
塑料是一种用途广泛的材料，具有推动人类走向循环和最终社会可持续性的潜力。然而，人们对塑料污染日益加剧的担忧引起了广泛关注，导致人们对这些材料产生了负面看法。在这里，我们质疑微生物在塑料污染生物修复中可能发挥的作用，方法是（i）定义聚合物的可生物降解性（即难生物降解、可水解和可生物降解聚合物），以及（ii）回顾评估微生物对塑料生物降解性的最佳实践。我们提出了一些建议，以促进在未来关于塑料生物降解的研究中采用严格的方法，旨在推动该领域采用同位素标记来确认塑料的生物降解，并进一步确定所涉及的分子机制。
