Degradation of Synthetic and Natural Textile Materials Using Strains: Model Compost and Genome Exploration for Potential Plastic-Degrading Enzymes.

Given the environmental significance of the textile industry, especially the accumulation of nondegradable materials, there is extensive development of greener approaches to fabric waste management. Here, we investigated the biodegradation potential of three strains in model compost on polyamide (PA) and polyamide-elastane (PA-EA) as synthetic, and on cotton (CO) as natural textile materials. Weight change of the materials was followed, while Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze surface changes of the materials upon biodegradation. The bioluminescence-based toxicity test employing confirmed the ecological safety of the tested textiles. After 12 months, the increase of 10 and 16% weight loss, of PA-EA and PA, respectively, was observed in compost augmented with sp. BPS43. Additionally, a 14% increase in cotton degradation was recorded after 2 months in compost augmented with sp. NP10. Genome exploration of the strains was carried out for potential plastic-degrading enzymes. It highlighted BPS43 as the most versatile strain with specific amidases that show sequence identity to UMG-SP-1, UMG-SP-2, and UMG-SP-3 (polyurethane degrading enzymes identified from compost metagenome). Our results showcase the behavior of sp. BPS43 in the degradation of PA and PA-EA textiles in composting conditions, with enzymatic potential that could be further characterized and optimized for increased synthetic textile degradation.