A marine bacterial community capable of degrading poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polyethylene

JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

卷:416

Article

Gao, Rongrong^1,2,3,4,5  Sun, Chaomin^1,2,3,5 

[1] Chinese Acad Sci, CAS & Shandong Prov Key Lab Expt Marine Biol, Inst Oceanol, Qingdao, Peoples R China

[2] Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Deep Sea Res, Inst Oceanol, Qingdao, Peoples R China

[3] Qingdao Natl Lab Marine Sci & Technol, Lab Marine Biol & Biotechnol, Qingdao, Peoples R China

[4] Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Coll Earth Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China

[5] Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Ocean Mega Sci, Qingdao, Peoples R China

关键词: Ocean;    Plastics;    Bacterial community reconstitution;    Degradation;    Pollution;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125928

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Plastic wastes are becoming the most common form of marine debris and present a growing global pollution problem. Here, we used a screening approach on hundreds of plastic waste-associated samples and discovered a marine bacterial community capable of efficiently colonizing and degrading both poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and polyethylene (PE). Using absolute quantitative 16S rRNA sequencing and cultivation methods, we obtained corresponding abundance and purified cultures of three bacterial strains that mediated plastic degradation. We further performed numerous techniques to characterize the efficient degradation of PET and PE by the reconstituted bacterial community containing these three bacteria. Additionally, we used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to further demonstrate the degradation of PET and PE films by the reconstituted bacterial community. We conducted transcriptomic methods to investigate the plastic degradation process and potential degradation mechanisms mediated by our reconstituted bacterial community. Lastly, we overexpressed PE degradation enzymes based on transcriptomic results and verified their significant degradation effects on the PE films. Overall, our study establishes a stable marine bacterial community that efficiently degrades PET and PE and provides insights into plastic degradation pathways and their associated biological and mechanistic processes-paving the way for developing microbial products against plastic wastes.

【 授权许可】

Free