Recent advances in plastic degradation – From microbial consortia-based methods to data sciences and computational biology driven approaches

Skariyachan, Sinosh; Taskeen, Neha; Kishore, Alice Preethi; Krishna, Bhavya Venkata

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.128086

Cited by 54 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…[77] The growing availability of bioinformatics resources and computational biology tools can also aid in the advancement of plastic biodegradation by facilitating in silico research such as computer-aided targeted mutagenesis and model-based predictions of mechanistic enzyme-polymer binding. [78].…”

Section: Synthetic Biology: a Potentiality For Plastic Biodegradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[80] Notably, the use of tailored microbial consortia has shown higher biodegradation efficiencies of PE, PU, and PET compared to individual strains. [77,78] With complex microbial communities, it is postulated that different microorganisms may exploit metabolic cross-feeding and express distinct degrading enzymes when cultured with the different plastic materials, and that combinations of selected bacteria may have synergistic effects on biodegradation.…”

Section: Synthetic Biology: a Potentiality For Plastic Biodegradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biologically engineered microbes for bioremediation of electronic waste: Wayposts, challenges and future directions

Han

Teo

Yew

2022

Engineering Biology

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In the face of a burgeoning stream of e‐waste globally, e‐waste recycling becomes increasingly imperative, not only to mitigate the environmental and health risks it poses but also as an urban mining strategy for resource recovery of precious metals, rare Earth elements, and even plastics. As part of the continual efforts to develop greener alternatives to conventional approaches of e‐waste recycling, biologically assisted degradation of e‐waste offers a promising recourse by capitalising on certain microorganisms' innate ability to interact with metals or degrade plastics. By harnessing emerging genetic tools in synthetic biology, the evolution of novel or enhanced capabilities needed to advance bioremediation and resource recovery could be potentially accelerated by improving enzyme catalytic abilities, modifying substrate specificities, and increasing toxicity tolerance. Yet, the management of e‐waste presents formidable challenges due to its massive volume, high component complexity, and associated toxicity. Several limitations will need to be addressed before nascent laboratory‐scale achievements in bioremediation can be translated to viable industrial applications. Nonetheless, vested groups, involving both start‐up and established companies, have taken visionary steps towards deploying microbes for commercial implementation in e‐waste recycling.

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Section: Synthetic Biology: a Potentiality For Plastic Biodegradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Synthetic Biology: a Potentiality For Plastic Biodegradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biologically engineered microbes for bioremediation of electronic waste: Wayposts, challenges and future directions

Han

Teo

Yew

2022

Engineering Biology

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“…[89] The process can be broken down into four main steps: biodeterioration, biofragmentation, assimilation and mineralization (Figure 10). [90] The initial step, biodeterioration which involves a chemical, physical or mechanical change in the polymer that can be brought about by environmental factors such as temperature, UV-irradiation, pH levels etc. This would overall decrease the hydrophobicity and molecular weight of the polymer, promoting microbial adhesion for the commencement of biodegradation.…”

Section: Biological Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio‐Polypropylene and Polypropylene‐based Biocomposites: Solutions for a Sustainable Future

Wang

Muiruri

Soo

et al. 2022

Chemistry An Asian Journal

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Polypropylene (PP) is among the most widely used commodity plastics in our everyday life due to its low cost, lightweight, easy processability, and exceptional chemical, thermo-mechanical characteristics. The growing awareness on energy and environmental crisis has driven global efforts for creating a circular economy via developing sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives to traditional plastics produced from fossil fuels for a variety of end-use applications. This review paper presents a brief outline of the emerging biobased PP derived from renewable natural resources, covering its production routes, market analysis and potential utiliza-tions. This contribution also provides a comprehensive review of the PP-based biocomposites produced with diverse green fillers generated from agro-industrial wastes, with particular emphasis on the structural modification, processing techniques, mechanical properties, and practical applications. Furthermore, given that the majority of PP products are currently destined for landfills, research progress on enhancing the degradation of PP and its biocomposites is also presented in light of the environmental concerns. Finally, a brief conclusion with discussions on challenges and future perspectives are provided.

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“…To stimulate the design of novel enzymes using computational synthetic biology approaches is dependent on the prior identification and characterization of several different plastics degrading enzymes to begin training machine learning software and providing accessible computing tools. In addition, a list of web tools for in silico biodegradation studies is available in a recent review ( Skariyachan et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: The Search For New Plastics Degrading Microbes and Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges

2022

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Annually, 400 Mt of plastics are produced of which roughly 40% is discarded within a year. Current plastic waste management approaches focus on applying physical, thermal, and chemical treatments of plastic polymers. However, these methods have severe limitations leading to the loss of valuable materials and resources. Another major drawback is the rapid accumulation of plastics into the environment causing one of the biggest environmental threats of the twenty-first century. Therefore, to complement current plastic management approaches novel routes toward plastic degradation and upcycling need to be developed. Enzymatic degradation and conversion of plastics present a promising approach toward sustainable recycling of plastics and plastics building blocks. However, the quest for novel enzymes that efficiently operate in cost-effective, large-scale plastics degradation poses many challenges. To date, a wide range of experimental set-ups has been reported, in many cases lacking a detailed investigation of microbial species exhibiting plastics degrading properties as well as of their corresponding plastics degrading enzymes. The apparent lack of consistent approaches compromises the necessary discovery of a wide range of novel enzymes. In this review, we discuss prospects and possibilities for efficient enzymatic degradation, recycling, and upcycling of plastics, in correlation with their wide diversity and broad utilization. Current methods for the identification and optimization of plastics degrading enzymes are compared and discussed. We present a framework for a standardized workflow, allowing transparent discovery and optimization of novel enzymes for efficient and sustainable plastics degradation in the future.

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Recent advances in plastic degradation – From microbial consortia-based methods to data sciences and computational biology driven approaches

Cited by 54 publications

References 121 publications

Biologically engineered microbes for bioremediation of electronic waste: Wayposts, challenges and future directions

Biologically engineered microbes for bioremediation of electronic waste: Wayposts, challenges and future directions

Bio‐Polypropylene and Polypropylene‐based Biocomposites: Solutions for a Sustainable Future

Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges

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