Plastics Biodegradation and Biofragmentation

Menofy, Nagwan Galal El; Khattab, Abdelrahman M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83783-9_22-1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 101 publications

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“…The aerobic biodegradation of plastics such as PE by bacteria is a complex process that takes place in a series of steps (Albertsson et al, 1987; El Menofy & Khattab, 2023; Mohanan et al, 2020; Montazer et al, 2019). The first stage is referred to as biodeterioration, where the polymer is degraded through external abiotic factors such as photooxidation from sunlight exposure, and biotic degradation through the action of secreted oxidative enzymes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A polyethylene surrogate for microbial community enrichment and characterization

Camur,

Mancipe,

Barney

2024

Environmental Microbiology

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Plastic pollution is a vast and increasing problem that has permeated the environment, affecting all aspects of the global food web. Plastics and microplastics have spread to soil, water bodies, and even the atmosphere due to decades of use in a wide range of applications. Plastics include a variety of materials with different properties and chemical characteristics, with polyethylene being a dominant fraction. Polyethylene is also an extremely persistent compound with slow rates of photodegradation or biodegradation. In this study, we developed a method to isolate communities of microbes capable of biodegrading a polyethylene surrogate. This method allows us to study potential polyethylene degradation over much shorter time periods. Using this method, we enriched several communities of microbes that can degrade the polyethylene surrogate within weeks. We also identified specific bacterial strains with a higher propensity to degrade compounds similar to polyethylene. We provide a description of the method, the variability and efficacy of four different communities, and key strains from these communities. This method should serve as a straightforward and adaptable tool for studying polyethylene biodegradation.

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