Piedra Felipe-Andrés, Salazar Miguel A, Abouelniaj Sara, Rahman Raayed, Clark Justin C, Han Yimo, Wang Zhao, Maresso Anthony
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2025 Mar 19;91(3):e0211824. doi: 10.1128/aem.02118-24. Epub 2025 Feb 24.
The scale of plastic pollution boggles the mind. Nearly 400 megatons of virgin plastics are produced annually, with an environmental release rate of 80%, and plastic waste, including microplastics and nanoplastics, is associated with a plethora of problems. The naturally evolved abilities of plastic-degrading microbes offer a starting point for generating sustainable and eco-centric solutions to plastic pollution-a field of endeavor we term eco-microbiology. Here, we developed an iterative discovery procedure coupling faster polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-dependent bioactivity screens with longer-term PET biodegradation assays to find biochemical boosters of PET consumption by the bacterium . We discovered multiple hits supporting the enhancement of PET biodegradation, with a 0.39% dilution of growth medium #802, a rich medium similar to Luria-Bertani broth, on average more than doubling the rate of PET biodegradation both alone and in combination with 0.125% ethylene glycol. In addition, we identified other chemical species (sodium phosphate, L-serine, GABA) worth further exploring, especially in combination with growth medium #802, for enhanced PET biodegradation by . This work represents an important step toward the creation of a low-cost PET fermentation process needed to help solve PET plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution is an urgent issue. Adding to the well-known problems of bulk plastic litter, shed microplastics and nanoplastics are globally distributed, found in diverse organisms including human foodstuffs and tissues, and increasingly associated with chronic disease. Solutions are needed and the microbial world offers abundant help via naturally evolved consumers of plastic waste. We are working to accelerate polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic biodegradation by , a recently described bacterium that evolved to slowly but completely consume PET, one of the most common types of plastic pollution. We used a combination of PET-dependent bioactivity screens and biodegradation tests to find stimulators of PET biodegradation. Out of hundreds, we found a small number of biochemical conditions that more than double the PET biodegradation rate. Our work provides a foundation for further studies to realize a fermentation process needed to help solve PET plastic pollution.
塑料污染的规模令人震惊。每年生产近4亿吨原生塑料，环境释放率达80%，塑料垃圾，包括微塑料和纳米塑料，引发了诸多问题。塑料降解微生物自然进化出的能力为解决塑料污染提供了一个可持续且以生态为中心的解决方案的起点——我们将这一领域的努力称为生态微生物学。在此，我们开发了一种迭代发现程序，将更快的聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）依赖性生物活性筛选与长期PET生物降解测定相结合，以寻找细菌消耗PET的生化促进剂。我们发现了多个支持增强PET生物降解的有效物质，在生长培养基#802（一种类似于Luria-Bertani肉汤的丰富培养基）稀释0.39%时，单独使用以及与0.125%乙二醇联合使用时，平均使PET生物降解速率提高了一倍多。此外，我们还确定了其他值得进一步探索的化学物质（磷酸钠、L-丝氨酸、γ-氨基丁酸），特别是与生长培养基#802联合使用时，可增强细菌对PET的生物降解。这项工作朝着创建有助于解决PET塑料污染所需的低成本PET发酵工艺迈出了重要一步。
塑料污染是一个紧迫的问题。除了众所周知的大量塑料垃圾问题外，脱落的微塑料和纳米塑料在全球分布广泛，在包括人类食品和组织在内的各种生物中都有发现，并且越来越多地与慢性病相关。需要解决方案，而微生物世界通过自然进化出的塑料垃圾消费者提供了大量帮助。我们正在努力加速一种最近描述的细菌对聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）塑料的生物降解，这种细菌进化为能缓慢但完全消耗PET，PET是最常见的塑料污染类型之一。我们结合PET依赖性生物活性筛选和生物降解测试来寻找PET生物降解的刺激物。在数百种物质中，我们发现了少数几种生化条件，可使PET生物降解速率提高一倍多。我们的工作为进一步研究实现有助于解决PET塑料污染所需的发酵工艺奠定了基础。
