This microbe thinks plastic is dinner !!

This microbe thinks plastic is dinner

-- A newly discovered bacterium chows down on plastics which could make it helpful in pollution cleanup. Researchers have found a microbe that chows down on a major polluting plastic. 

People value this plastic because it can be made into stiff and strong fibers. This plastic also can be molded into semi-hard sheets. Because the material's name is such a mouthful, most people just refer to it as PET for polyethylene terephthalate. It is the basis of polyester fabrics and disposable beverage bottles. But the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis doesn’t wear clothes or sip from bottles. For this microbe, PET is simply dinner.

Researchers in Japan discovered the germ in samples of soil, wastewater and the sludge that accumulates at some recycling plants. Bits of PET tainted all of the samples. That’s not too surprising. This plastic is very stable, and few known microbes can break it down. But I. sakaiensis can use PET as its main food source, the new data show.

Tests show that these microbes first latch onto the plastic. Then they release a protein that breaks the plastic down into smaller molecules that the microbe can munch on. Millions of tons of PET are made every year. Most microbes that degrade plastics have no interest in PET. That's why the long-lasting plastic can build up in the environment, where it can pose a risk to wildlife. With its appetite for this pollutant, however, the newfound microbe might turn out to find a welcome role in plastic-waste cleanup, Yoshida’s team says.

References: (SPECTRO LAB NEWSLETTER)
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