A polystyrene-hungry worm species could be the key to large-scale plastic recycling.
Researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered that the common “supercook” of Zophobas morio can eat through polystyrene, thanks to a bacterial enzyme in its gut.
Dr. Chris Rinke and his team at the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences fed the supercooks on different diets over a three-week period, with polystyrene foam, some bran, and others on a fasting diet. “We found that supercooks fed a polystyrene diet not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains,” Dr. Rinke said. “This suggests that worms can get energy from polystyrene, most likely with the help of their gut microbes.”
The researchers used a technique called metagenomics to find several enzymes encoded with the ability to degrade polystyrene and styrene. The long-term goal is to design enzymes to degrade plastic waste in recycling plants by mechanical crushing, followed by enzymatic biodegradation.
“Supercooks are like mini recycling plants, crushing polystyrene with your mouth and then feeding it to the bacteria in your gut,” Dr. Rinke said. “The decomposition products of this reaction can be used by other microbes to create high value compounds such as bioplastics.”
This bio-recycling is expected to encourage the recycling of plastic waste and reduce landfills.
The co-author of the research, PhD candidate Jiarui Sun, said they aim to grow intestinal bacteria in the lab and further test their ability to degrade polystyrene. “Next, we can look at how we can increase this process to the level needed for an entire recycling plant,” Ms. Sun said.
Dr. Rinke said there are many opportunities for biodegradation of plastic waste. “Our team is very excited to push science to make this happen,” he said.
Reference: Sun J, Prabhu A, Aroney STN, Rinke C 2022. Knowledge of Plastic Biodegradation: Community Composition and Functional Capabilities of the Superworm Microbiome (Zophobas morio) in Polystyrene Foam Feed Assays. Micro Geno. 8 (6): 000842. doi: 10.1099 / mgen.0.000842
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