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Wastewater bacteria can breakdown plastic for food

The bacteria could be harnessed to help clean up microplastics in the environment and the new bioremediation.

Europe produced 58.8 million tonnes of plastics in 2022
Europe produced 58.8 million tonnes of plastics in 2022 - Copyright AFP JOSH EDELSON
Europe produced 58.8 million tonnes of plastics in 2022 - Copyright AFP JOSH EDELSON

Wastewater is a huge reservoir of microplastics and nanoplastics and many nanoplastics can be formed during wastewater treatment through microbial activity. This increases pollution. However, one bacterium appears to break down the plastics into harmless substances.

Comamonadacae is a family of bacteria often found growing on plastics in water. A new study finds a bacterium in this family can break down the plastic for food. The researchers also identified the enzyme the bacterium use to degrade plastic.

This means the bacteria could be harnessed to help clean up microplastics in the environment and the new bioremediation finding could lead to a robust bioengineering solution to clean up plastic waste.

The organisms, Comamonadacae, grow on plastics littered throughout urban rivers and wastewater systems. The precise mechanisms have been  uncertain, but now Northwestern University-led researchers have discovered how cells of the Comamonas testosteroni bacterium are breaking down plastic for food.

The scientists noted how the bacteria chew the plastic into small pieces, called nanoplastics. Then, the bacteria secrete a specialized enzyme that breaks down the plastic even further. Finally, the bacteria use a ring of carbon atoms from the plastic as a food source, the researchers found.

In other words, this is a wastewater bacterium that can take a starting plastic material, deteriorate it, fragment it, break it down and use it as a source of carbon.

The researchers looked to a type of C. testosteroni which grows on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a type of plastic commonly used in food packaging and beverage bottles. Because it does not break down easily, PET is a major contributor to plastic pollution

PET plastics represent 12 percent of total global plastics usage and the material it accounts for up to 50 percent of microplastics in wastewaters.

The wastewater bacterium has an innate ability to degrade plastic all the way down to monomers, small building blocks which join together to form polymers. These small units are a bioavailable source of carbon that bacteria can use for growth. This comes down to one specific enzyme the bacterium expresses when exposed to PET plastics.

The discovery opens new possibilities for developing bacteria-based engineering solutions to help clean up difficult-to-remove plastic waste, which pollutes drinking water and harms wildlife.

The study appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The research is titled “Mechanisms of polyethylene terephthalate pellet fragmentation into nanoplastics and assimilable carbons by wastewater Comamonas”.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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