Synthetic plastics are pivotal in our current lifestyle and therefore, its accumulation is a major concern for environment and human health. Petroleum-derived (petro-)polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are extremely recalcitrant to natural biodegradation pathways. Some microorganisms with the ability to degrade petro-polymers under in vitro conditions have been isolated and characterized. In some cases, the enzymes expressed by these microbes have been cloned and sequenced. The rate of polymer biodegradation depends on several factors including chemical structures, molecular weights, and degrees of crystallinity. Polymers are large molecules having both regular crystals (crystalline region) and irregular groups (amorphous region), where the latter provides polymers with flexibility. Highly crystalline polymers like polyethylene (95%), are rigid with a low capacity to resist impacts. PET-based plastics possess a high degree of crystallinity (30–50%), which is one of the principal reasons for their low rate of microbial degradation, which is projected to take more than 50 years for complete degraded in the natural environment, and hundreds of years if discarded into the oceans, due to their lower temperature and oxygen availability. The enzymatic degradation occurs in two stages: adsorption of enzymes on the polymer surface, followed by hydro-peroxidation/hydrolysis of the bonds. The sources of plastic-degrading enzymes can be found in microorganisms from various environments as well as digestive intestine of some invertebrates. Microbial and enzymatic degradation of waste petro-plastics is a promising strategy for depolymerization of waste petro-plastics into polymer monomers for recycling, or to covert waste plastics into higher value bioproducts, such as biodegradable polymers via mineralization. The objective of this review is to outline the advances made in the microbial degradation of synthetic plastics and, overview the enzymes involved in biodegradation.

A gene encoding amylopullulanase (gt-apu) of the extremely thermophilic Geobacillus thermoleovorans NP33 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene has an open reading frame of 4,965 bp that encodes a protein of 1,655 amino acids with molecular mass of 182 kDa. The six conserved regions, characteristic of GH13 family, have been detected in gt-apu. The recombinant enzyme has only one active site for α-amylase and pullulanase activities based on the enzyme kinetic analyses in a system that contains starch as well as pullulan as competing substrates and response to inhibitors. The end-product analysis confirmed that this is an endoacting enzyme. The specific enzyme activities for α-amylase and pullulanase of the truncated amylopullulanase (gt-apuT) are higher than gt-apu. Both enzymes exhibited similar temperature (60 °C) and pH (7.0) optima, although gt-apuT possessed a higher thermostability than gt-apu. The overall catalytic efficiency (K(cat)/K(m)) of gt-apuT is greater than that of gt-apu, with almost similar substrate specificities. The C-terminal region of gt-apu appeared to be non-essential, and furthermore, it negatively affects the substrate binding and stability of the enzyme.

Pullulanases are endo-acting enzymes capable of hydrolyzing α-1, 6-glycosidic linkages in starch, pullulan, amylopectin, and related oligosaccharides, while amylopullulanases are bifunctional enzymes with an active site capable of cleaving both α-1, 4 and α-1, 6 linkages in starch, amylose and other oligosaccharides, and α-1, 6 linkages in pullulan. The amylopullulanases are classified in GH13 and GH57 family enzymes based on the architecture of catalytic domain and number of conserved sequences. The enzymes with two active sites, one for the hydrolysis of α-1, 4- glycosidic bond and the other for α-1, 6-glycosidic bond, are called α-amylase-pullulanases, while amylopullulanases have only one active site for cleaving both α-1, 4- and α-1, 6-glycosidic bonds. The amylopullulanases produced by bacteria find applications in the starch and baking industries as a catalyst for one step starch liquefaction-saccharification for making various sugar syrups, as antistaling agent in bread and as a detergent additive.

Pullulan hydrolyzing enzymes are endoacting, classified based on the substrate specificity and hydrolysis products as pullulanases (type I and II) and pullulan hydrolases (type I, II and III). Pullulanases and pullulan hydrolase type I are produced by bacteria and archaea. Among bacteria, many mesophilic, thermophilic and hyperthermophilic bacteria produce pullulanases and neopullulanases. While pullulan hydrolase type II and type III are produced by fungi and archaea, respectively. These are multi-domain proteins with three conserved catalytic acidic residues of the glycosyl hydrolases. The recent advances in molecular biology and protein engineering via mutagenesis and truncation led to improvement in thermostability, catalytic activity and substrate specificity. Pullulanases are debranching enzymes, which are widely employed in starch saccharification that minimizes the use of glucoamylase (approx. 50 %) and reduces the total reaction time of the industrial starch conversion process. The thermostable amylopullulanases are useful in one-step starch liquefaction and saccharification, which replaces amylolytic enzymes like α-amylase and glucoamylase, thus resulting in the reduction in the cost of sugar production. The enzymes also find application in making resistant starches and as an antistale in bread making. Panose and isopanose containing syrups are useful as prebiotics, while panose has also been reported to display anticarcinogenic activity. This review focuses on the distinguishing features of these enzymes based on the analysis of amino acid sequences and domain structure, besides highlighting recent advances in the molecular biology and protein engineering for enhancing their thermostability, catalytic activity and substrate specificity. This review also briefly summarizes the potential applications of pullulanases and pullulan hydrolases.

In order to understand the role of N1 domain (1-257 aa) in the amylopullulanase (gt-apu) of the extremely thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus thermoleovorans NP33, N1 deletion construct (gt-apuΔN) has been generated and expressed in Escherichia coli. The truncated amylopullulanase (gt-apuΔN) exhibits similar pH and temperature optima like gt-apu, but enhanced thermostability. The gt-apuΔN has greater hydrolytic action and specific activity on pullulan than gt-apu. The k cat (starch and pullulan) and K m (starch) values of gt-apuΔN increased, while K m (pullulan) decreased. The enzyme upon N1 deletion hydrolyzed maltotetraose as the smallest substrate in contrast to maltopentaose of gt-apu. The role of N1 domain of gt-apu in raw starch binding has been confirmed, for the first time, based on deletion and Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics. Furthermore, N1 domain appears to exert a negative influence on the thermostability of gt-apu because N1 truncation significantly improves thermostability.

The amylopullulanase of Geobacillus thermoleovorans NP33 (apu105) is Ca(2+)-independent with a molecular mass of 105 kDa and optimum activity at 80 °C and pH 7.0. The apu105 is extremely thermostable with T 1/2 of 7.8 h at 90 °C and hydrolyzes starch, pullulan, and malto-oligosaccharides, but not panose and cyclodextrins. The low K m values of apu105 (starch, pullulan, amylose, and amylopectin) indicates higher affinity of apu105 than others. The action of the enzyme on mixed substrates (starch and pullulan) confirmed the presence of only one active site for cleaving both α-1,4- and α-1,6- glycosidic linkages. The raw starches are efficiently hydrolyzed into glucose, maltose, and malto-oligosaccharides. Two-step starch saccharification involving pretreatment with apu105 followed by glucoamylase enhanced glucose yield. The supplementation of whole wheat dough with apu105 markedly enhanced the loaf volume, shelf-life, and the texture of bread. The enzyme is compatible with detergents and useful in desizing of cotton fabrics.

Pseudomonas chlororaphis PA23 is a biocontrol agent that, in addition to producing antifungal compounds, synthesizes polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymers as a carbon and energy sink. Quorum sensing (QS) and the anaerobic regulator (ANR) are required for PA23-mediated fungal suppression; however, the role of these regulators in PHA production is unknown. Strains lacking either QS or ANR accumulated less PHA polymers when propagated on Ramsay's Minimal Medium (RMM) with glucose or octanoate as the carbon source. In the AHL-deficient background, all six of the genes in the pha locus (phaC1, phaC2, phaZ, phaD, phaF, phaI) showed reduced expression in RMM-glucose, and all except phaC2 were repressed in RMM-octanoate. While changes in gene activity were observed in the anr mutant, they were less pronounced. Analysis of the promoter regions for QS- and ANR-binding consensus sequences revealed putative phz-boxes upstream of phaZ and phaI, but no anr-boxes were identified. Our findings indicate that altered pha gene expression likely contributes to the lower PHA accumulation in the QS- and ANR-deficient strains, which may be in part indirectly mediated. This study is the first to show that mcl-PHA production is under QS and ANR control.

Biodegradation of short chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (scl-PHAs) and medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) was studied using two bacteria, Pseudomonas chlororaphis and Acinetobacter lwoffii, which secrete an enzyme, or enzymes, with lipase activity. These bacteria produced clear zones of depolmerization on petri plates containing colloidal solutions of PHA polymers with different monomer compositions. Lipase activity in these bacteria was measured using p-nitrophenyl octanoate as a substrate. In liquid medium, scl-PHA (PHBV) and mcl-PHA (PHO) films were used as the sole carbon source for growth, and after 7 days, 5-18% loss in weight of PHA films was observed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of these films revealed bacterial colonization of the polymers, with cracks and pitting in the film surfaces. Degradation of polymers released 3-hydroxyhexanoate, 3-hydroxyoctanoate, and 3-hydroxydecanoate monomers into the liquid medium, depending on the starting polymer. Genes encoding secretory lipases, with amino acid consensus sequences for lipase boxes and oxyanion holes, were identified in the genomes of P. chlororaphis and A. lwoffii. Although amino acid consensus sequences for lipase boxes and oxyanion holes are also present in PHA depolymerases identified in the genomes of other PHA degrading bacteria, the P. chlororaphis and A. lwoffii lipases had low homology to these depolymerases.