Petraro Silvia, Tarracchini Chiara, Mancabelli Leonardo, Lugli Gabriele Andrea, Turroni Francesca, Ventura Marco, Milani Christian
Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2025 Oct;17(5):e70178. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.70178.
Plastic pollution is a major environmental challenge, with millions of tonnes produced annually and accumulating in ecosystems, causing long-term harm. Conventional disposal methods, such as landfilling and incineration, are often inadequate, emphasising the need for sustainable solutions like bioremediation. However, the bacterial biodiversity involved in plastic biodegradation remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we present the Plastic-Microbial BioRemediation (Plastic-MBR) database, a curated multi-omics resource that integrates publicly available genetic and enzymatic data related to putative plastic-degrading microorganisms. This database supports in silico analyses of metagenomic data from plastic-contaminated environments and comparative genomics, aiming to identify microbial taxa with potential plastic-degrading functions. We validated the functionality of the Plastic-MBR database by applying it to metagenomic datasets from plastic-contaminated soil and river water, successfully identifying numerous putative plastic-degrading genes across diverse microbial taxa. These results support the use of the Plastic-MBR database as a tool to identify candidate bacteria for future experimental validation, strain isolation, and functional studies, ultimately contributing to a deeper understanding of microbial potential in plastic bioremediation. While this study focuses on database development and computational validation, future studies will be essential to confirm and translate these genomic predictions into effective bioremediation strategies.
塑料污染是一项重大的环境挑战，每年产生数百万吨塑料并在生态系统中不断累积，造成长期危害。传统的处置方法，如填埋和焚烧，往往并不充分，这凸显了对生物修复等可持续解决方案的需求。然而，参与塑料生物降解的细菌生物多样性仍未得到充分了解。为填补这一空白，我们推出了塑料-微生物生物修复（Plastic-MBR）数据库，这是一个经过整理的多组学资源库，整合了与假定的塑料降解微生物相关的公开可用遗传和酶数据。该数据库支持对来自塑料污染环境的宏基因组数据进行计算机分析以及比较基因组学研究，旨在识别具有潜在塑料降解功能的微生物分类群。我们将Plastic-MBR数据库应用于来自塑料污染土壤和河水的宏基因组数据集，验证了该数据库的功能，成功在多种微生物分类群中识别出众多假定的塑料降解基因。这些结果支持将Plastic-MBR数据库用作一种工具，以识别用于未来实验验证、菌株分离和功能研究的候选细菌，最终有助于更深入地了解微生物在塑料生物修复中的潜力。虽然本研究侧重于数据库开发和计算验证，但未来的研究对于确认这些基因组预测并将其转化为有效的生物修复策略至关重要。
